Fish Guidance Systems have produced high-quality technology that stops fish from going places they shouldn’t for over thirty years.
Fish love to go places they shouldn’t – inside the intakes of power plants, clogging them up and reducing power generation, or spreading through irrigation and river systems they shouldn’t be in, as with invasive species.
It’s not the fish’s fault, but it is a genuine threat to the efficiency, operation and environmental impact of human-made infrastructure like power plants, renewable energy and the biodiversity of unique waterways. A fish, or millions of fish, in the wrong place can shut down vital systems, and that costs money and biodiversity.
So much so, many countries have specific regulations and laws that mean protecting infrastructure, and the fish. It’s an integral part of building new energy generation equipment and other marine based infrastructure.
Fish Guidance Systems have developed both low frequency and high frequency sound systems, light arrays and bubble screens, to deter fish and keep everything running smoothly.
We have lots of technical names for them. Bioacoustic Fish Fence, Acoustic Fish Deterrent, Synchronised Intense Light and Sound. But most people know them by another name: Fish Disco.
Fish Disco.
Fish Disco is a useful term. Just like a disco, Fish Guidance Systems uses a combination of light, sound, and even sometimes bubbles, to ensure fish stay out of the way when humans need to build and operate near, or on, water.
Fish are all built differently, and they all respond to different cues. For example, a system that only emits high frequency noise would deter a species like Shad, but would be ineffective against Trout, Salmon and other similar fish. High Frequency systems can also be most effective at frequencies that also affect marine mammals like seals and porpoise. Another example is that eels and elvers do not have the same organs as other fish, and so need other ways to deter them. This would usually involve installing a light-based system.
What’s great about a Fish Disco is that these systems and technologies can be combined to create a solution that works for whatever situation and deterrence is required. BAFF, SILAS, HF and LF systems all have their roles, and those roles can be combined with whatever job is necessary.
If you’d like to learn more about how Fish Discos work, and the genuine benefit they can give to projects, from a profit, operational, regulatory and environment perspective, please reach out to our experts at [email protected].
