Contrasting trends between species and catchments in diadromous fish counts over the last 30 years in France

Abstract

The decline and collapse of populations have been reported for a large range of taxa. Diadromous fishes migrate between fresh water and the sea and encounter many anthropogenic pressures during their complex life cycle. In spite of being of ecological, cultural and economic interest, diadromous fishes have been in decline for decades in many parts across the world. In this study, we investigated the change in five diadromous fish counts in France over a 30-year period using 43 monitoring stations located in 29 rivers across 18 catchments. Our hypothesis was that the counts of these species evolved in a contrasting way between catchments. We also tested the effect of five drivers potentially contributing to the observed trends: catchment, latitude, presence of commercial fisheries, improvement of ecological continuity and salmon stocking. We found contrasting trends in fish counts between species at the national scale, with some taxa increasing (Anguilla anguilla and Salmo trutta), some showing a slight increase (Salmo salar) and some decreasing (Alosa spp. and Petromyzon marinus). For each taxon, except Anguilla anguilla, we highlighted a significant catchment effect indicating contrasting trends between catchments and stations. However, we found no significant effect of catchment characteristics for any of the studied taxa.