Restoring migratory fish stocks in regulated rivers

Customers

Fortum, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

Need

Improving the living conditions of migratory fish in regulated rivers requires extensive knowledge and understanding. Finland’s National Fish Passage Strategy guides to shift focus from fish stocking towards restoring natural reproduction. To reach this goal, new information about the behaviour of fish and supporting solutions in regulated rivers is needed.

Solution

New information about a diverse research area has been produced in cooperation projects, e.g. combining information produced by researchers from the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) and hydropower companies for modelling movements of flowing waters and fish. In addition, further research topics needed for restoring natural reproduction have been considered in cooperation.

Impact

The partnership has helped to increase understanding among different parties of this complex topic, and to take concrete research-based action to improve the living conditions of migratory fish in regulated rivers.

Funding

Main financiers of related projects include hydropower companies, Finnish Energy, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Luke.

Customer feedback

“We needed to obtain more information about the environmental impact of Fortum’s operations, and research cooperation offered the best solution. When our aim is to reduce the environmental impact of our operations, we want to build solutions that are as efficient as possible. This can be done when these solutions are based on research data.”
Jukka Muotka, Fortum

“As a result of this research cooperation, we have obtained volumes of new information, helping us to make progress in developing solutions related to improving the state of fish stocks in regulated water systems. The independent and active work done by researchers has significantly increased opportunities for cooperation with power companies and other stakeholders.”
Jouni Tammi, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

Luke’s comment

“There has been a significant societal demand for the recovery and restoration of migratory fish stocks, while public funding has been scarce. As a result of these cooperation projects, we have been able to approach the ultimate goal and build sustainable solutions to restore fish stocks.”
Aki Mäki-Petäys, Luke