Biomechanics in Fish Passage and Gear Technology: Applications of Swimming Performance Research

Fishing gear technology and fish passage and protection constitute two discrete applications of conservation engineering with a common underlying biological basis.  Much of what we know today about fish locomotion and behavior has its roots in one or the other of these applications.  These parallel tracks are particularly evident in the study of swimming performance, and widely applied models of swimming ability were derived from efforts to join these two bodies of research.  Those models, however, have recently been discredited, and emerging evidence suggests substantial errors in both estimates of swimming ability and the appropriate application and interpretation of available data.  This has serious implications, both for criteria used for developing fish passage solutions (e.g. at fishways and road crossings) and also for our understanding of the mechanics of fish capture with commercial fishing gear.