Article (Scientific journals)
What are the best upland river characteristics for glass eel restocking practice?
Nzau Matondo, Billy; Benitez, Jean-Philippe; Dierckx, Arnaud et al.
2021In Science of the Total Environment
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Keywords :
Restocking; Freshwater Ecosystem; Capture Marck Recapture; Endangered fish; Species Conservation; European eel
Abstract :
[en] The fitness of restocked European eel (Anguilla anguilla), an endangered fish species, was studied in relation to the environmental variables of habitats in six upland rivers that are typologically different in terms of their hydromorphological and physicochemical characteristics, food resources and fish communities. These rivers received a total of 76,370 imported glass eels in 2017. During a three-year period, we monitored eels with respect to total length, annual growth rate, condition factor and density using capture-mark-recapture experiments to understand the effects of the characteristics of receiving rivers on restocking success levels. Our results showed the survival of the restocked eels in the six rivers and revealed significant differences between them in terms of total length, condition factor and density. Better performance in eel yield variableswas observed in a eutrophic alkaline river with greater roughness of riverbed substrates, dominant pool- and riffle-type flowfacies and lower brown trout density. The variables conductivity and total hardness had higher explanatory power and were strongly associated with increased eel density. This study suggests that a well-selected habitat/river in a restocking programme can be beneficial for the species and recommends restocking practice as a management tool to achieve eel conservation goals.
Research center :
FOCUS - Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch - ULiège
AFFISH-RC - Applied and Fundamental FISH Research Center - ULiège
Disciplines :
Aquatic sciences & oceanology
Author, co-author :
Nzau Matondo, Billy  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution > Gestion des ressources aquatiques et aquaculture
Benitez, Jean-Philippe  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution > Gestion des ressources aquatiques et aquaculture
Dierckx, Arnaud ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution > Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution
Renardy, Séverine  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution > Gestion des ressources aquatiques et aquaculture
Rollin, Xavier;  SPW
Dylan, Colson
Loïc, Baltus
Vasthi Rose, Myrielle Romain
Ovidio, Michaël  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution > Gestion des ressources aquatiques et aquaculture
Language :
English
Title :
What are the best upland river characteristics for glass eel restocking practice?
Publication date :
April 2021
Journal title :
Science of the Total Environment
ISSN :
0048-9697
eISSN :
1879-1026
Publisher :
Elsevier, Netherlands
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funders :
European Fisheries Fund
Ministry of Walloon Region
Available on ORBi :
since 23 April 2021

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