Effect of thermal discharges on the fish assemblages of a nuclear power plant in northern Taiwan

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to study whether the thermal plume can affect the fish assemblages in the waters around the outlet area of the Second Nuclear Power Plant located at Kuosheng, a coastline between Yehliu and Chinshan village, northern coast of Taiwan. Both experimental and control stations of underwater census for reef fishes and of drift net sampling for pelagic or demersal fishes above sandy bottom were monitored four times per year from March 2001 to September 2004. The results show that no significant dif-ferences were found between the fish assemblages of the thermal waters and normal ambient waters for both coral reef fishes and pelagic or demersal fishes. It was probably due to microhabitat difference rather than water difference because the above fishes are mostly living near bottom where the water temperature are similar to each others for these two stations. On the contrary, the seasonal effect due to low water temperature in the winter had greater influence on the fish assemblages than the effect of thermal plume.