Aquatic assessment in river Tana Water chemistry, invertebrates and fish in 6 tributaries Report 3 – 2019 Naturtjenester i Nord Holtveien 66 9016 Tromsø Org 983 342 663 Tlf 41423272 www.ninord.no Project Aquatic assessment in river Tana Project lead Contact Rune Muladal [Kontaktperson] ISBN Year Pages Contract no. 978-82-93524-01-4 2019 25 Lapland ELY-centre Publisher Finance Lapland Centre for Economic Development, Transport Naturtjenester i Nord and the Environment (Lapland ELY-centre) Referanse Muladal, R, og Huru, H. 2019 Aquatic assessment in the river Tana. Fish, invertebrate and water analyses in 6 tributaries in 2018 Rapport-3. Naturtjenester i Nord, 30 pages. Summary We have carried out surveys in 6 tributaries to river Tana. The result provides a snapshot of the water chemistry, and only hints for the overall water chemistry throughout the year. According to the classification guides Vuottasjohka, Tsulleveäijohka, Keädgejohka, Vuobmaveäijohka and Kuktsejohka can be classified as river type R206 (calcareous, humid) and Gossjohka as river type R207 (moderately calcareous, humid). The invertebrate fauna in six sites was investigated. The density of bottom animals varied widely with 24 to 257 individuals per sample, but despite the variation in density, the overall ecological condition was not effected. Gossjohka had the lowest bottom animal densities, but when Norwegian and Finnish samples were merged, the condition became very good. Electrofishing was carried out in 4 tributaries of a total of 1850 m2 distributed over 11 stations. The catch was dominated by salmon and trout juveniles .A total of 7 species were registered and the highest densities of salmon were in Gossjohka. Project leader Quality control Rune Muladal Helge Huru 2 1. Preface Naturtjenester i Nord (NINORD) were commissioned by Lapland Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (Lapland ELY-centre) to conduct aquatic survey in 6 tributaries of Tana river system. Responsible for the surveys (planning, sampling and reporting) have been Rune Muladal who, together with Grzegorz Wierbinski, also carried out the field work (NINORD). Analysis of invertebrates have been carried out by Helge Huru (NINORD) and Gaute Kjærstad (NTNU). Contact person at the client has been Jukka Ylikörkkö, who has also contributed with relevant information according sampling and infrastruture. We thank ELY for the cooperation and the assignment of the project. Tromsø, Mars 2019 3 2. Content 1. Preface ..................................................................................................................................... 3 2. Content ..................................................................................................................................... 4 3. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 5 4. Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 6 4.1. Water quality sampling and analysis ................................................................................... 6 4.2. Macroinvertebrate sampling and analysis .......................................................................... 7 4.3. Electrofishing ...................................................................................................................... 7 4.4. Indexing ............................................................................................................................... 8 4.5. Survey locations .................................................................................................................. 9 5. Results .................................................................................................................................... 10 5.1. Water chemistry ................................................................................................................ 10 Invertebrate – ecological status .................................................................................................. 10 5.2. Fish .................................................................................................................................... 13 5.2.1. Vuottašjohka (234-590-R) ................................................................................................ 13 5.2.2. Goššjohka (234-83-R) ...................................................................................................... 14 5.2.3. Vuobmeveäjohka and Kuktsejohka .................................................................................. 14 6. References ............................................................................................................................. 15 6.1. Appendix 1 Sampling stations ........................................................................................... 16 6.1.1. Vuobmaveäijohka (Anarjohka) ......................................................................................... 16 6.1.2. Tsulloveäijohka (Tana) ..................................................................................................... 17 6.1.3. Keädgejohka (Tana) ......................................................................................................... 18 6.1.4. Kuktsejohka (Utsjohki) ..................................................................................................... 19 6.1.5. Vuottasjohka .................................................................................................................... 20 6.1.6. Gossjohka ........................................................................................................................ 21 6.2. Appendix 2. Invertebrate ................................................................................................... 22 4 3. Introduction The River Teno (Tana in Norwegian) is located in northern Norway and northern Finland and it runs via Tanafjord into the Barents Sea. The river system (drainage area 16386 km2) is one of the most important Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., rivers in the world with annual in-river catches of 60-250 t and more than 1200 km of rivers accessible to migrating adult salmon. The river Tana system supports at least 20 genetically differentiated salmon populations in the main stem and in its tributaries (Vähä et al., 2007, 2008). Naturtjenester I Nord was commissioned to carry out surveys in 6 tributaries to Tana in autumn 2018. The rivers Vuottasjohka / Iesjohka and Gossjohka / Anarjohka (Norway) and Tsulleveäijohka / Tana, Keädgejohka / Tana, Vuobmaveäijohka / Inarijohki and Kuktsejohka / Utsjoki (Finland) has been assessed for water chemistry, invertebreates and juvenile atlantic salmon. The survey is a part of Joint Environmental Management of the River Tana Interreg project, which is coordinated by Lapland ELY- centre in cooperation with the County Governor of Finnmark and the Tana municipalities. Due to challenging situation with high water flow no registrations were carried out in Bavvtajohka. The purpose in this project is to fill data gaps in the regional aquatic monitoring, map suitable long- term monitoring stations and to compare different national benthic sampling methods. The survey include three parts: 1. Macroinvertebrate sampling and analysis 2. Electrofishing 3. Water quality sampling and analysis 5 4. Methodology The fieldwork was done 23-25th September under descending water levels after a period of rain. According to the water framework directive, the results from water chemistry or fish communities measured after only one collection are not sufficient to assess the ecological status of the quality elements of chemistry and fish. On the other hand, the methodology satisfies the assessment of ecological status based on the quality element “bottom fauna” (invertebrates). To measure the deviation from the reference state, the ratio of observed values to water-type-specific reference values for the relevant parameter or index is calculated. This ratio is called ecological quality ratio (EQR), and normalized EQR (n-EQR) varies from 0 to 1, where 1 is best (reference state). The class limits are given in the norwegian supervisor (Veileder 02: 2018)1. 4.1. Water quality sampling and analysis Water in each station is sampled one time during the biological survey at an undisturbed site. Samples are collected from depth about 25 cm in appropriate containers and cooled before analyzes. The samples are processed in the laboratory (Eurofins) (see table 1). Table 1. Parameters analysed from water samples in the project. 1 http://www.vannportalen.no/globalassets/nasjonalt/dokumenter/veiledere-direktoratsgruppa/Klassifisering-av-miljotilstand-i- vann-02-2018.pdf 6 4.2. Macroinvertebrate sampling and analysis Sampling is conducted according to national standards A and B, were given in the tender background and explained in principle below. The subscriber provides field sheets to be filled at site. At stations 1 and 4 both methods are applied. From these sides the total number of samples includes the 4x30 second samples by method A) and the 3-minute sample by the method B). The identification of invertebrate fauna are given in the taxa resolution applied . Reporting includes summary of the findings using relevant indices and expertise, comparison of the two method's results from stations 1 and 4, the raw data in taxa densities per sample and copies of the field sheets (attachement to this report).