Publication Abstract

The influence of a power station onthe survival of juvenile sea-bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) in an estuarinenursery area

M.G. Pawson and D.R. Eaton

Trawl surveys in theestuary of the River Medway in the autumns of 1987-1991 have shown that the distributionof juvenile sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax is strongly associated with thewarm-water outflow from Kingsnorth power station. In years of low abundance of first-yearbass, very few were caught outside the warm-water discharge channel, whereasproportionately more fish of abundant year classes occupied the main river. About 15% ofthe available juvenile bass population died on the cooling-water intake screens atKingsworth in the autumn and winter of 1987 and 1988. However, growth and survival offirst-year bass in the Medway Estuary may be enhanced by the power station's warm-waterefuent, such that overwinter mortality due to inadequate nutritional reserves and lowtemperatures may be considerably reduced.

Reference:

M.G. Pawson and D.R. Eaton, 1999. The influence of a power station on the survival ofj uvenile sea-bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) in an estuarine nursery area. Journal of Fish Biology, 54: 1143-1160.