Not All Challenges Are Natural: Collecting Telemetry and Hydroacoustics Data in a Heavy-Traffic Semi-Industrial Waterway

Collecting data on volitional thermal exposure of fish around a power plant thermal discharge provides a better understanding of the thermal tolerance limits of fish on which to base regulatory criteria.  The objectives of this study were to 1) use split-beam hydroacoustics surveys to document the distribution of the fish community in and around a thermal discharge and 2) use acoustic telemetry to monitor the movements of individual fish in and out of the thermal plume.  This study was conducted around the thermal discharge of Tennessee Valley Authority’s Cumberland City Fossil Plant on the Cumberland River.  In addition to the hot turbulent discharge, other sampling challenges were presented by regular coal barge traffic, mooring platforms, electrical interference, and fishermen.  We will describe techniques and solutions for deploying and retrieving acoustic receivers, collecting manual telemetry data, negotiating hydroacoustic transects, and analyzing noisy data in response to the challenges associated with sampling near a thermoelectric power plant.  We will also present models that quantify the distribution of fish around the thermal plume and the likelihood that several tagged species will venture into the plume as a function of fish size, time of day, ambient temperature, plume temperature, and delta temperature.