Advertorial feature | Fish passage With its adjustable attraction flow rates, the Fishheart fishway can be
utilized to work with any fish species, like salmon, trout, shad, herring, lamprey, eel, Murray cod, and whitefish, just to name a few.
AI keeps watch and collects data Artificial intelligence plays a key role in Fishheart’s functions. Once the
attraction flow has fish swimming inside the system, the AI launches: it snaps photos and records video, and sends the gathered information to cloud or local storage, where the information is processed. Once the AI identifies a fish in the camera system, it recognizes the species and size, and proceeds to running an analysis on whether to open the fishway or not. Migratory fish of all species, sizes and swimming capabilities can use the system to elevate over the hydropower plant. Fishheart can be set up to accept all fish or to be selective – this feature can be used to separate unwanted and invasive species and deny them access over the dam, or alternatively, lead them to the shore into a container. To those granted permission, the process for upstream passage is initiated and the fish are transported upstream. Fishheart’s advanced AI system can be used for several other purposes as well: for scientific monitoring, removing unwanted fish, as well as collecting and reporting statistics.
Not a drop of water from the reservoir Fishheart uses approximately 5% of the water traditional fish passages
require. Typically, the water is siphoned through a tube from the reservoir to the Fishheart system down in the tailwater. From the siphoned water, Fishheart uses less than 0.2 m3
/s for the outer attraction flow.
However, in places where saving water is of key importance, the attraction flow can be created by pumping water into the system from the tailwater, meaning not a drop is needed from the reservoir. “As a result of global warming, many countries and even whole continents increasingly suffer from lack of water. Water must be saved and used primarily for the needs of people and agriculture. Still, fish need to get past the dam and Fishheart hydraulic fishway is the solution for that,” says Mika Sohlberg, Sales Director at Fishheart Ltd.
The complete Fishheart fishway on the left below the Fortum Power and Heat Leppikoski Hydropower Station: the floating unit in the water, the control unit on the bank and the tubing that leads over the dam. Photo by Mikko Törmänen
Fishheart in brief A hydraulic fishway device placed in the tailwater of a hydropower plant.
Produces an attraction flow that lures fish into the device’s tubing. AI detects the fish and collects real-time data with photos and video.
AI engages the elevation process and transports the fish over the plant unharmed.
Granted hydraulic fishway status by the Regional State Administrative Agency of Northern Finland (AVI).
A sea trout inside Fishheart’s tubing
Substantially more cost efficient than a traditional
fishway In Europe, for example, the EU water directive demands member countries to arrange fishways in built rivers. With traditional fish passages this becomes very expensive, and many hydropower plants simply don’t have the space for building well-functioning passages. The hydraulic Fishheart fishway can be installed at hydropower plants with limited space, high ascent, or long transfer distances. Fishheart just might be the answer for hydropower plants struggling to find a solution to comply with the directive. “The cost of a Fishheart hydraulic fishway is around 20–30% of a technical fishway and only 5–10% of a fish elevator,” states Sohlberg.
www.waterpowermagazine.com | July 2023 | 31
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