Vindel River LIFE After LIFE-plan

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Table of Contents Site description

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Included habitats

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Included species

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Vindel River LIFE

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Results

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Good conservation status of the Vindel River

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SWOT-analysis

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Goals and methods for After LIFE

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Follow-up of conservation goals

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Development of conservation status

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UmU. 2015. Vindel River LIFE. After LIFE plan. Report to the European Commission. Umeå University, Umeå.

Cover: Mårdsele rapids in the Vindel River during spring flood. Photo Christer Nilsson 2

Site description The headwaters of the Vindel River are located on the northern side of the mountain Sarvestjåkkå close to the border to Norway. The uppermost headwaters are situated almost 1500 m above sea level. The river empties into the Ume River in the village Vännäsby, about 40 km west of the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. Between these locations the river runs freely for 450 km through turbulent and tranquil reaches across the inland forests. After the confluence with the Ume River and before the coast the river passes through the Stornorrfors power station which forms a migration obstacle for many species. The Vindel River proper, however, is one of Sweden’s four free-flowing national rivers, protected by several national laws. The Vindel River and its tributaries were used during the years 1850-1976 as timber floatways. During the timber-floating period the watercourses were heavily transformed to facilitate the timber transport: side channels were closed, the channels were cleared from boulders and cobbles and channels were constrained by means of walls and dikes. In connection to lakes and other tranquil reaches dams were built to husband the water in the best possible way to favour the timber transport. The measures for facilitating the timber floating heavily modified the hydrology, hydraulics and ecology of the streams and rivers. This caused much damage to the natural environment and restricted the habitats for in-stream, riparian as well as upland animals and plants.

Included habitats The Vindel River and its tributaries are included in the the Natura 2000 network, which acts to protect and conserve the biological diversity. Within the river there are habitats and species which within the EU are considered particularly important to protect and conserve. The Vindel River includes six habitat types that have to be protected according to the Habitat Directive. Among those, four were added after the start of the project (oligotrophic lakes, lakes with small amphibious vegetation, dystrophic lakes and larger rivers). The project Vindel River LIFE has restored within the habitats alpine rivers (code 3220) and smaller watercourses (code 3260).

Included species The Vindel River system includes five species which have to be protected according to the Habitat Directive. Among those Persicaria foliosa was added after the start of the project. Vindel River LIFE has actively monitored three of the other species (Atlantic salmon, bullhead and otter). Also brown trout has been included in the monitoring programme; this gives an indirect estimate of the freshwater pearl mussel which is the fifth of the species that have to be protected and conserved. The brown trout host the glochidia of the freshwater pearl mussel.

Brown trout (Salmo trutta)

Freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera)

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Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Otter (Lutra lutra)

Bullhead (Gottus gobio)

Vindel River LIFE The Vindel River LIFE project was started in January 2010 and was finished 31 October 2015. The project was a collaboration among Umeå University, the Vindel River Fishery Advisory Board, the Swedish University of Agricultural Science and the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management. The budget was 2 675 000 EUR, half of which was financed by EU and the other half by the County Administration Board of Västerbotten, the municipalities of Umeå, Vännäs, Vindeln, Lycksele, Sorsele and Arjeplog and the four project beneficiaries. The project has worked in two ways. First, we have worked with traditional, basic restoration (best practice methods), that is, with a set of methods that have been tested and used in previous restoration projects. Second, we have applied more comprehensive restoration (demonstration restoration), which previously only has been tested in a few other, smaller projects. The comprehensive restoration was carried out in streams that were basically restored some time during the 1990s or 2000s (when blasted rocks from the edge of the channel were replaced into the stream). The Vindel River LIFE further improved these restorations by adding large boulders and entire trees from surrounding areas to the streams. The overarching goal of the project has been to restore cleared and channelized tributaries in the Vindel River system to improve, in accordance with EU’s Water Framework Directive and Habitat Directive, the conservation status of species and habitats and to increase space for species. The focus has been on two types of habitats – the riparian zone and the in-stream area. The effects of the demonstration restoration were studied 1-5 years after completion of the restoration work. The follow-up work included studies of the effects on riparian plants, otter and fish. Monitoring of constructed fish spawning ground was also included. Important questions were if they were used, for how long they would last and where they should ideally be placed.

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Results 26 tributaries have been restored along a total stretch of 66 km, which has led to that 73 % of the former floatway structures have been removed. Table 1 gives a summary of the goals of the project and achieved results. The applied measures are:  Comprehensive, so-called demonstration restoration in ten streams along a total stretch of 6 km.  Traditional best practice-restoration in 18 tributaries along a total stretch of 61 km. Here the project has brought back rocks and boulders removed from the stream during the timberfloating period.  More than 100 000 m3 of rocks have been moved from the riparian to the in-stream areas.  Many closed side channels have been reopened which has given access to 27 ha of water area along 170 km of streams.  20 old splash dams have been opened or completely removed, which has led to re-opening of 288 km of stream stretch and nearly 4000 ha accessible lake area.  More than 1000 fish spawning grounds have been restored or created in all watercourses of the project.  Demonstration restoration has led to 24 % slower flow and 13 % wider channels compared to the situation before the action. Flow velocity and channel width in the reference reaches did not change between the two measuring occasions. Demonstration restoration also led to more variable flows compared to the reference reaches, which is a natural consequence of the increased complexity following such restoration.  The reaches that were demonstration restored in 2010 had somewhat more plant species than the reference reaches that were restored 2003–2005.  There were a few more naturally occurring seedlings in the demonstration reaches than in the reference reaches during the summer 2013. This probably depends on that trees and large boulders in the demonstration reaches are trapping more seeds.  Otter was fairly common in large parts of the restored regions. Since the distribution area of otter is larger than the length of the investigated reaches we cannot evaluate the effects of demonstration restoration on otter.  In tributaries that maintained fish populations before restoration there was even more fish three years after restoration. On the contrary, there seems to take longer for fish to recover in areas where fish had disappeared before restoration.  In 2014 one-year old salmon were found in the lower parts of the stream Giertsbäcken. This is the first time since electrofishing started to be used for fish monitoring that salmon has been found in tributaries so far upstream in the Vindel River system. This fact, along with the fact that more salmon have been found in other streams that have been restored in the project, prove that salmon occupy not only the main channel of the Vindel River but also need tributaries during their development.  On spawning grounds created in reaches with weak currents, the average size of the gravel increased with time. This means that the smaller gravel particles are moved downstream as a result of fish spawning.  On spawning grounds in reaches with strong currents gravel fractions of different sizes were moved downstream and it was not always the larger particles that remained the longest 5

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time. One lesson learned from the project is that spawning grounds should not be built at places where wading during high flows is uncomfortable. If spawning grounds are created in such areas they are removed within a few years and it is not worth it to compensate this loss by adding larger-sized gravel. Brown trout prefer to place the roe a bit downstream from the central parts of the spawning grounds. To increase the longevity of the spawning grounds they should be built thicker with more gravel in the central and more downstream parts. Spawning grounds are a good habitat for fish embryos: survival of embryos was between 45 and 84%. This was shown by a study with so-called egg incubators that were buried in the spawning grounds. The roe stemmed from sea trout which had been caught at Stornorrfors power station in the Ume River.

Restoration in one of the tributaries of the Vindel River. Photo Stefan Ågren

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Good conservation status of the Vindel River In addition to the mandatory reporting to EU the project Vindel River LIFE has continuously reported completed restoration work and results from follow-up actions to Water Information System Sweden (Vatteninformationssystem Sverige, ”VISS”, http://www.viss.lansstyrelsen.se/) which every six years updates information on the ecological status of Swedish watercourses. Almost all of the streams and rivers we have worked in during Vindel River LIFE have been assessed to have an improved ecological status in 2015 as compared to 2008. Expected results of the project were to achieve a more favourable conservation status of habitats and species in the affected waterways and improved flow conditions with respect to flow rates, hydraulics and dynamics. The objectives for the abiotic environment have been achieved. The biological recovery is much slower but various indications from completed follow-up actions along with results of similar restorations suggest that this recovery will occur but that it needs much longer time than the few years that have passed.

Spawning fish at one of the spawning grounds of Vindel River LIFE. Photo Stefan Ågren

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Table 1. Objectives of the project Vindel River LIFE and achieved results Objectives of original proposal

Objectives of revised proposal

Output

Totally restore 44.1 km in 22 tributaries

Totally restore 59 km in 25 tributaries

Totally restored 66 km in 26 tributaries

Restore 10 sites within action C.1 = 3700 m

Restore 10 sites within action C.1 = 5700 m

Restored 10 sites within action C.1 = 5700 m

Remove 7 dams => 133.6 km accessible river stretch

Remove 20 dams => 278 km accessible river stretch

Removed 20 dams => 288 km accessible river stretch

Construct 400 spawning areas = 2 ha

Construct > 400 spawning areas = 2.2 ha

Constructed 1068 spawning areas = 5.34 ha

Restore stretches in 12 tributaries with best practice methods => (i) return 33 765 m3 dredged material

Restore stretches in 18 tributaries (totally in 27 streams) and in two rapids in the main river with best practice methods => (i) return 50 000 m3 dredged material

Restored stretches in 18 tributaries with best practice methods => (i) returned 100 000 m3 dredged material

(iii) open 7 closed side-channels which will increase available stream length by 560 m

(ii) increase habitat by 7.4 ha

iii) opened > 100 closed sidechannels which led to 170 km (including lakes) increased available stream length

Improved condition for water flow

Improved condition for water flow

Improved condition for water flow

Improved condition for species in the riparian zone

Improved condition for species in the riparian zone

Indications of this (more seedlings in restored areas) but more time is needed

Improved condition for insects

Improved condition for insects

Not monitored here but other studies support some improvements

Improved condition in the water habitat

Improved condition in the water habitat

Indications of this (salmon detected far up in the Vindel River system and in restored tributaries) but more time is needed

(ii) increase habitat by 5.6 ha

(iii) open > 7 closed sidechannels which will increase available stream length by 560 m

ii) increased habitat by 27.1 ha

SWOT analysis SWOT (stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) is a planning tool for finding exactly the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The results of the SWOT-analysis after completion of the project Vindel River LIFE are reported in Table 2 and the most important results are commented upon in the following text. 8

Table 2. SWOT-analysis after completion of the project Vindel River LIFE     

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Strengths Increased knowledge about plant and fish communities in the tributaries Removal of migration obstacles facilitates upstream migration of fish A network of study sites has been created which is important for future research Project partners have built up enduring partnerships The project partner SwAM is a national authority which disseminates knowledge from the project The project has created good collaborations among researchers, technicians, fishing management organisations and authorities Increased knowledge about stream restoration: Our experiences are useful for others The website disseminates knowledge about restoration to all interested The public has been positive Fishing management organisations have taken part of the work to create spawning grounds which provides better opportunities for a responsible management The longer the time after restoration, the more positive effects are expected Opportunities The forest industry works actively to change road culverts obstructing fish migration The forest industry works more actively with filling of unnecessary ditches There are actions to improve fish migration across the dam at Stornorrfors, downstream of the Vindel River Good management of migrating salmon and brown trout increases the opportunities for restored areas to be used by these species Improved fishing management gives better and simpler opportunities to buy fishing licenses (SMS and e-mail) Improved fishing management gives better and simpler opportunities to report catches (SMS and e-mail) Fishing management organisations in

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Weaknesses The demonstration reaches are rather short The follow-up studies of the project were restricted to fish and riparian plants. Knowledge is missing about, for example, aquatic insects The method used for fish follow-up works best on salmonids. This means that we lack information about many fish groups The time between restoration and follow-up was short, which means that few conclusions can be made Uncertain funding after 10 years, which is the time next follow-up study should be made to understand the effects of demonstration restoration

Threats Some tributaries have poor fishing management. National fishing regulations are valid only in the main stem and not in the tributaries. This means that regulations differ between watercourses Restricted downstream migration for smolt and kelt because of Stornorrfors power station downstream of the confluence of the Vindel and Ume Rivers Leakage from mines Clear-felling in the area can lead to leakage of unwanted chemicals to the water Irresponsible fishing can damage the fish populations Climate changes can affect the area Remaining road culverts obstruct fish migration to all parts of the catchment area 9

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tributaries have opportunities to improve fishing by means of good management plans The project has been very visible in many fishing journals and other media. This seems to attract people interested in fishing to the Vindel River. This can favour local actors The project has collected a lot of experience that other projects can benefit from. The website summarizes this information The fact that the Vindel River is a biosphere reserve candidate makes it more difficult to exploit these waters

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Drainage operations in the catchment can lead to transport of toxic chemicals to the streams and rivers Downstream migrating adult fish die in the turbines of Stornorrfors power station, downstream of the Vindel River

Goals and methods for After-LIFE The project Vindel River LIFE has ever since its start been an independent subproject within the large cooperative project ”From Coast to Mountains” that was started in 2007. This project takes a holistic approach aiming for a sustainable development of the fishing in the Vindel River and the lower parts of the Ume River. The project aims to develop the fishing resources in the Vindel River and the lower parts of the Ume River by means of collaboration among landowners, owners of hydroelectric facilities, researchers, state and local authorities. Thanks to these links Vindel River LIFE and its activities and results always have had great visibility to the many organisations and authorities. There is a broad consensus that the project has been very successful and that it is important that the results of the project, both through the restored nature, methods development and follow-up results, are managed in the best possible way. There are organisational conditions for both more specific to more general After LIFE activities. Fisheries management in the Vindel River area currently undergoes rapid development and it will follow the progress of the restored stretches, including electrofishing and catch reporting. The practitioners responsible for the actual restoration work continue to develop their working methods, not least in other water systems, and they will perform new and additional restorations in the Vindel River system in cases where this is judged to be necessary. This can be assumed to happen by means of both old and new methods. Nature management authorities have access to the results of the project and have incorporated them in their work. For example, the County Administration Board in Västerbotten applies for its own LIFE project and has consulted stakeholders in the Vindel River LIFE to take advantage of gained experiences. The work that is carried out by several organisations to increase tourism in the area will further increase the visibility of the project outcomes. The project’s information signs will stand in many years and the expectation is that they will inspire visitors, both to visit restored reaches and to talk about the results of the project. Furthermore, for a long time the restored reaches will form important research objects and excursion targets for universities and colleges. Most of these activities fit under different umbrella organisations of which the Vindel River biosphere reserve candidacy (Vindelälven-Juhtatdahka) is the largest. We expect that this organisation with time will be the natural centre and catalyst for the After LIFE work in the Vindel River valley. For example, we 10

have suggested that this candidacy should be responsible for the future management of the popular website that the project Vindel River LIFE has created and maintained. Below is an overview of the organisations and authorities that will be involved in the future management of the Natura 2000 area the Vindel River: 

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The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM) is directly involved because the river is one of four Swedish index rivers. SwAM will continue to finance restoration actions in the project area through contributions to the County Administration Board of Västerbotten. The extent of the actions and their location are determined regionally by the county administration board. SwAM is also an important disseminator of information and moulder of public opinion, for example through its reports with guidelines for the management of salmon and brown trout. The results from the restoration activities in Vindel River LIFE will be an important part of SwAM’s guidance around the development of methods for restoration of streams and rivers that have been used as floatways. Since 2015 the Vindel River is a so-called leader area. Leader is a method for development of the countryside within the EU. Leader Fishing Area Vindel River works to further strengthen fish populations, increase the availability of fishing and develop both fishing tourism and the coastal professional fisheries. The leader area uses EU funds and regional funds to achieve its goals. The Foundation Vindel River Fisheries. This foundation has been active since 2014 and has the task to support and develop the countryside and its people by distributing funds to projects aiming for an improvement of fish production and fishing resources and which provides an opportunity to use these within the catchment of the Vindel River upstream of Stornorrfors impoundment area. The foundation was started with a capital of 27 MSEK and will remain active for at least 10 years. The foundation stems from the conciliation that was reached between Vattenfall and fishing rights owners along the Vindel River about the damage Stornorrfors power station has caused on fisheries. Instead of individual remunerations to fishing rights owners there was an agreement to establish this foundation. Since February 2015 the Vindel River has a candidacy to become a so-called biosphere reserve (Vindelälven-Juhtatdahka) under UNESCO. The aim of the biosphere reserve is to develop knowledge and experiences on questions relating to sustainable use and protection of the landscape. As parts of a candidacy for a biosphere reserve authorities, local actors, researchers, and inhabitants in the area accept the challenge to work collectively with a holistic perspective for sustainable development. The biosphere reserve candidacy builds on a well establish wish to gather the region and its people from the mountains to the coast and to find new ways to enable a long-term, positive and sustainable development of the area. The candidacy lasts between 2015 and 2017. The Vindel River catchment will then function as a biosphere reserve and will meanwhile prepare a proposal to become one of UNESCO’s biosphere reserves. Ume/Vindel Rivers Fishery Advisory Board is a non-profit organisation formed by fishing management and fishing rights organisations within the Vindel River catchment and the lower parts of the Ume River (to its mouth in the sea). The objective of the board is to manage the common fishing resource in a long-term sustainable manner, and to make 11

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suggestions on how harvesting of wild salmon and brown trout can be made, to arouse opinion and understanding for the fisheries in the area, to support its members’ activities through advising, education and information, to promote collaborations in fishing, fishing management, service, information and marketing and further promote members’ common interests. The Swedish University of Agricultural Science and Umeå University have during several decades made investigations in the Vindel River area. The restoration work done by Vindel River LIFE arouses a great interest among researchers and already several million SEK have been supplied for research on how different organisms recover in restored areas. The development project "From Coast to Mountains" was initiated in 2007 to take a holistic approach towards creating a sustainable development of the fisheries in the Vindel River and the lower parts of the Ume River. One task of this project is to develop the fishing resources in the Vindel River and the lower parts of the Ume River by means of collaboration among fishing rights owners, owners of hydroelectric facilities, researchers, state and regional authorities. Another task if to find a constructive way of solving the lengthy legal dispute about the effects of Stornorrfors power station on fisheries. The County Administration Board of Västerbotten manages and supervises nature conservation in the area. The Swedish Forest Agency supervises forestry related questions in the catchment area.

There are already established collaborations among all these institutions. Vindel River LIFE has been a catalyst for many of these collaborations whereas others were present before the project started. In the future we foresee a great potential in developing From Coast to Mountains, Leader Fishing Area Vindel River and the biosphere reserve Vindelälven-Juhtatdahka as umbrella organisations for the development of the Vindel River catchment. Important challenges are to identify common capacities and coherent decision processes for these projects and organisations.

Follow-up of conservation goals The conservation goals will be followed up through scientific studies. The Vindel River has been the subject for such activities during several decades and is one of Sweden’s best studied water systems, especially with respect to natural environments and biodiversity. The restoration that has been accomplished by the project Vindel River LIFE makes the area further interesting for different research projects, especially those studying the recovery of ecosystems after completed restoration. It has been shown in many research projects around the world that biotic recovery after restoration is very slow. A relatively comprehensive research is therefore underway to try to understand which factors underlie this slow response. Is it the landuse in the area that is the problem, is there a shortage of organisms that would be able to colonize the restored reaches, are there physical obstructions that render immigration difficult, or is simply much longer time needed? If these causes can be clarified restoration methods could be further developed. Complementary achievements in already restored reaches to further improve the chances to meet the objectives would also be possible. The reaches in the tributary streams of the Vindel River that have been restored using demonstration methods by the project Vindel River LIFE have been carefully investigated both before and after 12

restoration and during five more years. The studies have included both abiotic and biotic factors. The population of restored and well studied reaches with associated databases represent a valuable basis for the research. Researchers at several universities will continue to study these areas. It is impossible to say for how long such activities can be maintained and to what extent, but the ambition is a broad, long-term research programme. Different universities and colleges take such a responsibility at the same time as the biosphere reserve candidacy can become an important catalyst for the start and coordination of scientific studies. More precisely, the follow-up work consists of analysis and mutual comparisons of plant and animal communities in different parts of the watercourses and their surroundings. This also includes insect studies. In addition, the dispersal of various organisms is studied. In two of the tributaries dispersal patterns of marked individuals of young salmon and brown trout will be followed. This study will provide better knowledge about how such fish use tributaries. Since monitoring of tagged fish is done also at the Stornorrfors dam there is an opportunity to identify fish even in those cases when they migrate towards the sea. Whereas the salmon population in the Vindel River has had a very positive development during last years the same cannot be said about the brown trout populations. During the next few years a project aiming to increase the amount of sea running trour in the Vindel River and its tributaries will be carried out. More specifically, the project will investigate how sea-running brown trout is best introduced in restored streams and how it interacts with resident, local populations of brown trout. The project will also develop methods for studying migration patterns of brown trout. Another project is to more specifically evaluate the function of the smolt trap in Stornorrfors and why the floating guiding device that has been installed upstream of the new fishway across the Stornorrfors dam for downstream migration of smolt and kelt does not work as well as expected. Several environmental factors that affect downstream migration of kelt and smolt will be studied. Another topic that will be investigated is how the proportion of fish which use the current fishway can be increased. A major part of these studies will be carried out by using acoustic telemetry in the field.

Development of conservation status The reaches restored in the project Vindel River LIFE have mainly been restored using the Field of Dreams approach, which means that the physical environment is restored in a near-natural condition whereafter it is anticipated that the species that can live there will be able to colonize by themselves. One presumption is of course that the species under consideration are somewhere in the adjacent area and this requirement is considered fulfilled in this case. These circumstances mean that further management of the restored reaches will be not necessary except that further exploitation has to be avoided. The forestry companies have been informed about the importance of protecting forest and removing ditches in near-riparian areas along restored reaches. Furthermore, they replace road culverts which often function as obstacles for migrating fish. Fishing management organisations have been informed about the importance of being cautious about harvesting fish before populations have recovered. To develop fish populations more activities than just restricting fishing will be required. The Vindel River is nationally important for reproduction of both salmon and brown trout and the project Vindel River LIFE was first initiated to favour these species. During proposal work and 13

during the project other protection values were also stressed but the status of the salmon and brown trout can still be said to have an exceptional position for the public. SwAM has recently published a report that summarizes the future management of salmon and brown trout. The report shows an increase in the level of ambition by defining higher goals than previously for population development, by developing a more local and regionally adapted management for different populations and by initiating measures to increase knowledge. The goal is still to increase populations of salmon and brown trout not only in the Vindel River but in Swedish waters in general. SwAm will continue to finance monitoring in the Vindel River area. The work is part of DCF (Data Collection Framework, the data collection in EU’s common fisheries politics according to the regulation (EU) 199/2008). The most important biological studies are electrofishing in watercourses and in a small number of watercourses even fish traps and automatic fish counters that register returning fish from the sea and the number of downstream migrating salmon and brown trout. The Vindel River is one of four rivers assigned as index rivers. This is an important step to further increase the protection status of the Vindel River. That the development of fish populations is on the right track is shown, amongst all, by that salmon fry has been caught during the project period further up in the Vindel River than ever before and also in some of the restored tributaries. That salmon behave like the brown trout in this respect was not previously known. It is an important signal for the fishing management that the river system with main stem and tributaries works as an entity. Hopefully this understanding – that everyone manages a common resource – will facilitate the work to increase collaboration among different fishing management organisations within the river system. During 2016-2020 Leader Fishing Area Vindel River will work with fish management in the Vindel River – projects aiming for the development of management plans for the fish populations in the main stem and the tributaries will be prioritized and funding is allocated. The foundation Vindel River Fisheries disposes 27 million SEK during the next 10 years, about 15 million SEK of which will be used for various projects in the river. Some of these projects can be supposed to deal with further restoration. SwAM also takes part in and finances a project for better assessing the smolt production in the Vindel River system and contributes with funding to the biosphere reserve candidacy VindelälvenJuhtatdahka. EU’s Fisheries Foundation for the period 2014-2020 has recently opened a call for proposals and a proposal for funding fish migration actions at Stornorrfors has been submitted where SwAM and Vattenfall are cofinancing. The passage for the migrating fish of Stornorrfors can be viewed as one of the largest, yet unsolved problems with relation to the fish populations of the Vindel River. Recent work with fishing conservation actions and restorations in the project From Coast to Mountains and restrictions of sea fisheries have led to a marked increase in the upstream migration of first of all salmon in the Vindel River. In year 2013 a new record was beaten when more than 13 500 salmon and nearly 1000 brown trout were registered in the fish way. At Stornorrfors which is Europe’s largest hydroelectric facility with respect to energy production, the water falls 70 m where after it runs through a several km long tunnel. The available fish way for migrating fish is a dry channel with a minimum flow with an artificial fish ladder across the crest of the dam. The building of a new fish ladder and physical corrections of difficult passages in the dry channel have improved the capacity of the fish for upstream migration. Planned continuing operations are believed to lead to further improvements.

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The major remaining problem is, however, the migration of fish from the river to the sea through the power plant. After the commissioning of Stornorrfors power station in 1959, downstream migrating fish have been forced to pass through the turbines. This has resulted in almost total loss of kelt and roughly a halving of the smolt population. During downstream migration smolt is supposed to move higher in the water mass than the kelt. In the hope of directing the smolt into the existing fish way a guiding device that covers the upper part of the water body is placed in direct connection to the fish ladder. The function of this device is not yet fully evaluated for smolt but is not functioning for kelt, which move deeper into the water. The problem with the big losses of kelt has attracted attention only in recent years in connection with the increasing stocks of salmon. Helping the kelt to pass the power plant alive is one of the biggest challenges fisheries management in the Vindel River system have to contend with. The successes achieved during the recent restoration work, however, have generally increased the motivation of many actors to solve this problem.

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