The European eel stock (Anguilla anguilla) is outside safe biological limits. A range-wide stock assessment requires the creation and standardisation of databases that include information on eels and their habitats in different countries throughout their distribution range. The SUDOANG 1.0.4 database compiles standardised data on river courses in France and the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). Using GIS tools, information on water surface and on other potential aquatic habitats surrounding each river segment has been collected. This common river network provides tools to quickly accumulate information along the river or along the natural path of migration from/to the sea. The database also compiles information on the surface of other habitats, human pressures (including 106400 obstacles), and provides eel abundance and biometric estimations derived from the Eel Density Analysis (EDA) model at the river reach scale for the reference year 2015. The river network supports ecological assessment of the eel habitats, and should also be useful for studies on other migratory species.

Climate change alters the thermal and hydrological regimes of rivers, increasing both water temperature and extreme-event frequency. In spring, temperature regulates the timing of alevin emergence in brown trout, Salmo trutta, as well as macroinvertebrate abundance, which are the main food items for just-emerged alevins. In parallel, severe floods drastically reduce macroinvertebrate abundance and diversity. Consequently, climate change may disrupt predator–prey dynamics by desynchronizing alevin emergence and macroinvertebrate availability. In a seminatural channel, we quantified macroinvertebrate abundance, monitored survival, growth, behaviour and standard metabolic rates (SMR) of just-emerged alevins at high density (32 alevins/m2) in control reaches and in reaches previously impacted by a simulated high-magnitude flood. The experiment was repeated in early and late spring. In early spring, system productivity was low and macroinvertebrate abundance was consistently low. Alevin survival was reduced by the flood. Alevins were highly active and aggressive regardless of treatment, probably driven by low trophic availability. In late spring, productivity increased. The flood significantly reduced macroinvertebrate abundance but high system productivity quickly compensated for this reduction. The simulated flood reduced alevin growth but did not affect survival. After the flood, alevins were active, probably to maintain a constant food supply. There were no differences in SMR between alevins in the control reach, whereas dominants displayed lower SMR than subordinates in the flooded reach. These subordinates were probably exposed to intense stress due to a lack of resources. Our experimental study helps to improve understanding of the behavioural and physiological processes driving survival and growth in salmonid early life stages.

Climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of hydrological events in freshwater. Summer droughts and drying events drastically reduce the favourable habitat for aquatic organisms shaping interactions among species. Macroinvertebrates are usually less abundant during severe summer low flows, reducing prey availability for carnivorous fish, such as brown trout (Salmo trutta). To quantify the consequences of a surface water drying event on fish performance, we conducted an experiment in 6 experimental channels naturally fed by water and macroinvertebrates. After a colonisation period for macroinvertebrates, the water level was dropped to the benthic surface for two weeks in 3 channels, while it remained constant in the 3 other channels. After water level restoration, juvenile brown trout were reared for three weeks in the control and dry channels. The drying event did not reduce the abundance of macroinvertebrates. Survival and growth of juvenile trout were unaffected by drying. Our experiment provided circumstantial evidence that the hyporheic zone could potentially serve as an effective refuge for macroinvertebrates, mitigating the effects of drying events on food webs, although this mitigation would strongly depend on sediment characteristics, habitat quality and the composition of the macroinvertebrate community.

Allis shad Alosa alosa hatches and develops in freshwater before migrating to the sea during its first months of life. Some field research works dedicated to the diet of the species in freshwater put forward that young stages of allis shad feed mainly on zooplankton, being opportunistic and euryphagous; their diet would diversify through ontogeny in relation to growth. However, these assumptions have never been confronted to the availability of prey, and the exact age of fish was unknown. In this work, we reared young allis shad under seminatural conditions, from 6 to 10 days posthatching until nearly 3 months old, in a trophic environment representative of a natural river. The rearing structures were designed as artificial rivers, supplied continuously by natural riverine water and zooplankton prey. Additional zooplankton was produced in separate basins and added daily in the structures. One artificial river was used to rear allis shad in 2018, and the experiment was conducted on two allis shad batches in 2019 (one batch per river). We described the nekton communities of potential prey available for allis shad in the rearing structures by sampling the water every week, and we compared these data with the stomach contents of fish captured at one and two months old posthatching to describe their diet and prey selectivity. Our results suggest that young allis shad should not be considered as opportunistic in their feeding, since clear selectivity was observed at both ages. One-month-old allis shad highly selected cladocerans, probably because they are easy to catch for fish at this age, when their swimming abilities are limited. Feeding selection at two months old drifted towards other prey taxa (dipteran larvae, ostracods, and/or copepods), whereas cladocerans were no longer preferred. Our results suggest that fish density and competition may entice two-month-old allis shad to enlarge their diet to other taxa, including benthic organisms, while one-month-old fish do not seem able to shift their diet and would fast in the absence of cladocerans. Thus, this highlights that the feeding of young allis shad may be highly challenging during their first month of growth.

We implement a newly developed framework, expressed as a mathematical model that we solve numerically, for understanding environmental sex determination in populations with consistent trends in abundance. Though broadly applicable, the analysis here focuses on the steadily declining North Atlantic eel populations. This enables us to show how the eco-evolutionary dynamics of eels reflect sex-specific and habitat-specific relationships among demographic features. When increasing stress levels resulting from Human-Induced Rapid Environmental Change are imposed on these populations, they become increasingly vulnerable to highly biased sex ratios. Our analysis is both prescriptive (identifying the key components and the priorities for deepening our understanding of them) and predictive (indicating expected qualitative patterns to be tested in future work). Priorities include establishing sex ratios and age/sex structure by habitat, measuring the magnitude and effects of social and individual stress levels, estimating effects of fishing pressure, and investigating reproduction in the Sargasso Sea. Key predictions address expected biases and trends in sex ratios, habitats more likely to be population sources (e.g. river basins) or sinks (e.g. estuary), expected trends in bimaturism (sex-specific maturation times), implications of the relative speed of adaptation and of environmental deterioration, and fitness responses to stress levels, early-stage mortality, and female demographic parameters.

The European eel population has declined over the last 50 years and is outside safe biological limits. In 2007, the European Commission enforced a regulation to ensure that all Member States implement Management Plans to achieve an escapement rate of 40% for silver eels. However, escapement is assessed using diverse methods, and therefore, estimates of different countries are not comparable. Thus, European scientists and managers face the challenge of finding a method that could be applied all along the European eel distribution range using widely available data. During the SUDOANG project, the Eel Density Analysis model (EDA) was used to estimate the silver eel escapement in Spain, France, and Portugal. EDA can estimate silver eel escapement at different scales (basin, EMU, country, international) using data from routine electrofishing surveys, such as those collected for the Water Framework Directive (WFD). EDA is based on open-source software and is widely applicable to European rivers. A chained river network in the three countries was built, including the hydrological attributes, the location, and the characteristics of 10,574 obstacles. A total of 46,118 electrofishing operations from 1985 to 2019 were also compiled and projected to the hydrographic network. Finally, EDA was implemented through the sub-models on eel presence–absence, density, size structure, and silvering. EDA estimated a total fluvial population of 12.3, 11.7, and 5.8 million silver eels for 2015 in France, Spain, and Portugal, respectively. Eel presence and abundance decreased as the altitude and the distance to the sea increased. Finally, by setting the cumulated height of dams to zero, EDA provided an estimate of the effect of habitat loss due to dams on the eel population. These results correspond to the first assessment of silver eels carried out simultaneously and with the same methodologies in three European countries.

The European eel is critically endangered (IUCN, 2020) due to several factors (climate change, barriers to migration, pollution, unsustainable exploitation, illegal trading and poaching, and pathogens). However, the relative effect of these factors can hardly be quantified. Anguillicola crassus is a nematode known as one of the most harmful parasites for the European eel. Being hematophagous and inducing serious alterations to the swimbladder, it can reduce swimming performances and thus may impair silver eel migration and reproduction. Since its introduction (in the early 1980s) from Asia to Europe, this invasive parasite has spread rapidly through its new host’s geographic range. In that context, an extensive study was conducted in 2018 in seven pilot basins (one lagoon and two rivers on the Mediterranean side and four rivers on the Atlantic side) in the SUDOANG project to investigate the epidemiological status of A. crassus and the parameters influencing its distribution. The eel population was monitored in a harmonized way through a sampling network using standardized data collection methods. We sampled 36 to 96 eels (yellow and silver stages) in each pilot basin by electrofishing or fyke nets. We identified significant differences of A. crassus occurrence between basins, which were partly explained by eel life traits (density, feeding activity) and habitat characteristics (temperature, salinity). This study contributes to quantifying and better understanding the mechanisms of infection of A. crassus in different ecosystems and to increasing the awareness of its possible negative effects on the eels of the Sudoe Area.

By combining field research and careful laboratory analysis of samples over the course of an eight-year study, we met the challenge of assessing the life history traits and health status of eels restocked in freshwater ecosystems. We found that restocked eels exhibited good growth performance; moreover, the stocks were female-dominated, showed a good Fulton's condition factor (K) and lipid stores and had high survival probability estimated using the best model of Jolly-Seber stock assessment method for open populations. A necropsy revealed the absence of internal lesions. A swim bladder examination revealed the absence of the parasite Anguillicola crassus. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses revealed an increase of Anguillid herpesvirus-1 (AngHV-1) prevalence throughout the study. Most positive subjects expressed viral loads compatible with a latent infection and correlated positively with K. All restocked eels were contaminated by at least one of the organic pollutant congeners studied, but the pollution loads corresponded to the lowest range of pollutant concentrations reported in the available literature for European eels and did not exceed the maximum residue and contaminant limits in food and feed of several national and international regulations. Pollutant loads were negatively correlated with K, lipid content and eel density for polychlorinated biphenyls PCB 138, 153 and 180 and K for pesticides p.p’-DDE, p.p’-DDD, p.p’-DDT and PBDE47. This study highlights the potential role played by upland aquatic ecosystems in enhancing riverine silver eel production from the perspective of species conservation. To be successful, restocking must be accompanied by improved ecosystem quality and migration routes for eels in inland freshwaters. We also provide some recommendations for future research to improve the management of restocking programmes.

The ecology of the young stages of allis shadAlosa alosais poorly documented, although they can be exposed to many pressures during their freshwater phase and their downstream migration. When passing through systems such as the Gironde-Garonne-Dordogne watershed (GGD, SW France), they can be subjected to high temperatures and low levels of oxygen (hypoxia). The aim of this work is to assess the tolerance of youngAlosa alosaat four ages (c.10, 30, 60 and 85 days old) by challenging them to different temperatures (18, 22, 26 and 28 degrees C) together with decreasing oxygen saturation levels (from 100% to 30%). Survival of the 10-day-old individuals was not influenced by oxy-thermic conditions, but high stress levels were detected and perhaps this age class was too fragile regarding the constraint of the experimental design. Survival at 30 and at 60 days old was negatively influenced by the highest temperatures tested alone (from 26 degrees C and from 28 degrees C, respectively) but no effect was detected at 85 days old up to 28 degrees C. A combined effect of temperature and oxygen level was highlighted, with heat accelerating survival decrease when associated with oxygen level depletion: essentially, survival was critical (<50%) at 30 days old at temperature >= 22 degrees C together with 30% O-2; at 60 days old, at temperature = 28 degrees C with 30% O-2; at 85 days old, at temperature >= 26 degrees C with <= 40% O-2. Tolerance to oxy-thermic pressures appeared to be greater among the migratory ages (60 and 85 days old) than among the 30-day-old group. Based on environmental data recorded in the GGD system and on our experimental results, an exploratory analysis allowed a discussion of the possible impact of past oxy-thermic conditions on the local population dynamics between 2005 and 2018. The oxy-thermic conditions that may affectAlosa alosaat ages when they migrate downstream (60 and 85 days old) were not frequently recorded in this period, except in cases of extreme episodes of heat together with hypoxia that occurred in some years, in summertime in the turbidity maximum zone of the Gironde estuary (particularly in the year 2006). Interestingly, oxy-thermic conditions that are likely to threaten the 30-day-old individuals occurred more frequently in the lower freshwater parts of the GGD system between the years 2005 and 2018. In the context of climate change, a general increase in temperature is predicted, as well as more frequent and severe hypoxic events, therefore we suggest that localAlosa alosapopulation recruitment could encounter critical oxy-thermic conditions more frequently in the future if no adaptive management of water resources occurs.

Climate change will increase the temperature of rivers and will lead to more extreme events, such as floods. Temperature increases and floods will likely alter the phenology of freshwater species differently and have the potential to significantly disturb prey-predator interactions. In spring, an increase in temperature triggers an increase in primary production and controls the timing of the emergence in brown trout (Salmo trutta L.). Hydrology regulates the abundance of invertebrates, which are the main food source for newborn alevins. As such, climate change may desynchronise the relationship between fish emergence and invertebrate production, resulting in a negative impact on the performance of newly emerged alevins. In the present study, we quantified the abundance of invertebrates and the performance (survival and growth) of newborn alevins in early spring (March) compared to late spring (April/May) in 8 enclosures in a semi-natural channel. In addition, we simulated a flood in 4 enclosures in late spring. Our results revealed that survival and growth of alevins in early spring were limited due to low invertebrate abundance. In late spring, there was a decrease in the survival of alevins placed in the flooded enclosures, likely due to the reduction of food availability. However, the growth of survivors increased, probably because of the increase in the abundance of Chironomidae after the flood and a reduced competition between congeners. Our results demonstrate that when emergence and flooding happen simultaneously, they can limit resources which will impact the survival and growth of young salmonids in running waters.

Invertebrate drift is an important ecological process but factors affecting the downstream transport of invertebrates are difficult to assess. The influence of water velocity on drift entry rates is still unclear and has rarely been quantified. In this study, conducted in spring and autumn, we investigated the drift propensity for different sizes of Baetis, Simulium and Chironomus larvae which, over a 24-h period, were subjected to low, moderate or high water velocities (14, 30 and 40 cm s−1, respectively) in either fine or coarse gravel beds. Interspecific differences were detected: Baetis drifted the most, Chironomus showed intermediate values and Simulium drifted the least. Chironomus was the only taxon that responded to water velocity. Baetis and Simulium were only slightly constrained to drift by the experimental conditions, while, in contrast, Chironomus larvae were very sensitive to flow increase. Substrate size (fine/coarse gravel bed) had no effect on any taxa. Small Simulium and Chironomus drifted more than larger ones. A seasonal effect was also detected, with Baetis drifting more in fall and Simulium drifting more in spring. Results suggest that community structure may be as or more important than hydraulics as a determinant of drift rates.

Populations of fishes provide valuable services for billions of people, but face diverse and interacting threats that jeopardize their sustainability. Human population growth and intensifying resource use for food, water, energy and goods are compromising fish populations through a variety of mechanisms, including overfishing, habitat degradation and declines in water quality. The important challenges raised by these issues have been recognized and have led to considerable advances over past decades in managing and mitigating threats to fishes worldwide. In this review, we identify the major threats faced by fish populations alongside recent advances that are helping to address these issues. There are very significant efforts worldwide directed towards ensuring a sustainable future for the world's fishes and fisheries and those who rely on them. Although considerable challenges remain, by drawing attention to successful mitigation of threats to fish and fisheries we hope to provide the encouragement and direction that will allow these challenges to be overcome in the future.

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. The role of density in sex determination of the European eel and the identification of early sex markers Benjamin Geffroy, Agnes Bardonnet

AbstractSpatial aggregation within a population is a widespread phenomenon which may both exacerbate local competition and the stochastic effect of local environmental perturbations. In particular, the spatial aggregation of nests may strongly affect recruitment and hence population dynamics. Although the negative effect of local density on local recruitment has often been theoretically extended to population dynamics, very few studies have demonstrated the effect of local aggregation on the whole population recruitment. Using a long‐term survey of a small Atlantic salmon population, we tested the effect of spatial aggregation on the whole population recruitment and whether accounting for population stock is important or not when explaining the population recruitment. We found that accounting for population stock is necessary and that spatial aggregation of nests improved estimates of population recruitment. The spatial aggregation of nests did not impact the average population recruitment; however, a stronger aggregation diminished the variability of population recruitment. Our findings suggest that the aggregation of nests among some breeding areas does not necessarily impair the whole population recruitment and significantly reduces the stochasticity of the recruitment. In addition, the aggregation of nests seems to be the result of an ideal distribution of females, selecting the best‐breeding sites. Our results also indicate that females select breeding sites on environmental risk to spawn within the safest sites. This study warns against the extrapolation of local density dependence observations to the population level, and advocates for investigating the effect of aggregation on the demographic and evolutionary population dynamics, a clear contribution of aggregation on population dynamic processes being found in the Nivelle population.