IE ECP : Study the behavior of migratory fish
The experimental installation ECP is used to study the behavior of migratory fish in controlled or semi-natural environments The experimental installation, “Behavioral ecology of fish” (IE ECP), is one of the 15 thematic platforms of the UPPA’s instrumental service center. It is backed by the ECOBIOP laboratory, whose main aim is to gain knowledge on the effect of environmental stress on fish populations. The equipment is essentially spread over two sites in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department: the experimental technical platform on the Aquapôle site in Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle, and the experimental site of Lapitxuri in Ainhoa. The set-up is completed by an “in nature” instrumented observatory site located on the Nivelle, a small coastal river belonging to the international network of “Index Rivers”. The platform in Saint-Pée is specifically designed for experiments in a controlled environment. Alongside an energy workshop with respirometry equipment and an outside platform with experimental basins, it includes a 10-m long circular fluvarium with an inside current and two chronotrons simulating the tides. Light, water quality and temperature are just some of the parameters that can be adjusted to conduct research on wild fish populations (eels, salmonids, Allis shads, etc.). Upstream of the Nivelle basin, the Lapitxuri site also boasts original equipment, unique in Europe, including an experimental channel of 130 m, with an adjustable inflow rate, for studying fish – day and night – growth, dispersion, reproduction, thanks to underwater observation stations and video equipment. “Because our installations are so diverse and complementary, we can conduct research work at different scales, from individual fish to the entire population, and thus adapt to specific needs,” rounds off Jean-Christophe Aymes, Co-Director of the IE ECP.
Contact :
