A Standardized Research Framework to Better Understand Barotrauma-Related Injuries for Sustainable Hydropower in the Mekong River Basin

Human population growth has created a need for increased power production.  In many countries, hydropower is being rapidly developed to provide this energy.  Within places such as the Mekong River basin, people rely heavily on fish for both their lively hood and nutrition.  The increase in hydropower development in some regions has led to population declines of fish.  This can be partially due to direct mortality caused by hydro facilities but also due to the loss of fish passage leading to fragmented populations.  One way that fish are impacted by hydro passage is barotrauma.  The impact of barotrauma must be understood and mitigated to ensure sustainable fisheries.  This involves taking steps to expand the knowledge of barotrauma-related injury from its current focus, mainly on juvenile salmonids of the Pacific Northwest, to incorporate a greater diversity of fish species and life stages from many parts of the world. This presentation summarizes research that has examined barotrauma during fish passage and articulates a research framework to promote a standardized, global approach.  The suggested approach provides clearly defined links to adaptive development of fish friendly technologies.