Does yellow eel prefer old pool and weir or new vertical slot fish pass during their upstream migration?

The hydroelectric dam of Lixhe in the River Meuse, 323km upstream from the North Sea at the entry of Belgium near the frontier with the Netherlands is equipped with two basin fish-passes: – the old pool-and-weir configuration (OFP) operates at low discharge (0.13m3/s) and – the new vertical-slot configuration (NFP) operating at high discharge (1m3/s) with attraction flow (1.5m3/s). However, the utilization rate of these fish-passes by the incoming yellow eels remains unknown, because the trap of NFP is not adapted to retain anguillids and small species. Yet, such knowledge is crucial to improve the inland colonization of the species and to increase our understanding of fish-pass utilization given its particular swimming mode. In season 2013, eels caught two times a week using a cone-trap pool in the OFP and net traps in the NFP, were tagged and released the same day 0.3km downstream (n = 396eels). The utilization of OFP and NFP was studied using automatic RFID transponder detection antennas placed in upstream basins of the fish-passes, during years 2013 and 2014. Results revealed that the OFP was the preferred migration route of eels (eel numbers, OFP:NFP, 2013= 88:51 and 2014= 41:16, χ²-test, p<0.0001), which was also used earlier in season. Eels displayed fidelity to their catch fish-passes (>70% of the detected eels, annually). Detection rate was high in the year of eel tagging (2013: 35.1%) before decreasing in the following year (2014: 14.4%). Eels used these fish-passes the night from 22:00 to 04:00, at 14-26°C, river flow <200m³/s and whenever waxing and waning phases of moonlight. Our results provide insight into the utilization of fish-passes by migrating eels. The study suggests further reflection before removing the old fish-pass in large rivers and to think about the eel attractiveness and comfort when the construction of a new fish pass is planned.