Influence of Electric Fields of a Fish Protection Device on Fish of the Dagestan Coast of the Caspian Sea

Abstract

Electric fish barriers of various systems have long been successfully used to protect fish from entering water intake structures, especially under conditions that make it difficult to use other types of fish protection devices and structures. Strong electric fields created by electric fish barriers can affect the survival, physiological state and injury rate of juvenile and adult fish. At the same time, the sensitivity of fish to such impacts is largely determined by their size. In this regard, we have carried out a complex study to examine the biological safety of electric fields generated by the electronic programmable complex fish-protecting facility of electrical action (EPS IFPEI) on mass fish species from the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea and separate estuaries of its tributary rivers. Behavior and distribution of fish of different size groups (juveniles and adults) at different levels of electric impact from the fish barrier were tested. Survival and injury rates of fish at prolonged maximum voltage of electric fish barrier were evaluated. As a result of the experiments, the modes and parameters of the electric fish barrier (EPS IFPEI) effectively causing behavioral avoidance response in fish were established. Significant differences in survival of individuals from the intact (control) and electrically exposed (experimental) groups of fish were not revealed.