Observatories in natura

The in natura monitoring sites consist of four coastal rivers along the Atlantic Channel coast: the Bresle River, the Oir River, the Scorff River and the Nivelle River.

• The Bresle River : in Normandy, on the border between Seine-Maritime and the Somme (length: 72 km / catchment area: 748 km²)
   
• The Oir River (pilot site): in Normandy, in the department of La Manche (length: 19.5 km / catchment area: 87 km²)
   
• The Scorff River : in southern Brittany in the Morbihan department (length: 70 km / catchment area: 480 km²)
   
• The Nivelle River : in the Basque Country in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department (length: 39 km / catchment area: 238 km²)

These four watercourses are equipped with monitoring stations for diadromous fish migration and have been subject to other regular biological monitoring programmes since the 1980s. Salmon (Salmo salar), trout (Salmo trutta), eel (Anguilla anguilla), shad (Alosa alosa), sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) and river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis) are the main species monitored. To understand certain behaviours or fluctuations at the population level, it seems essential to monitor changes in the key environmental characteristics of the populations under study. Data concerning these characteristics are also available.

To find out more about the observatories, click on the links below:

The Bresle River

The Oir River

The Scorff River

The Nivelle River

Brochures for each of the sites are available here:

The Bresle River

The Oir River

The Scorff River

The Nivelle River

The book, "Three Decades of Observations and Research on Migratory Fish published as part of the "Understanding to Act" series, presents the ORE DiaPFC, its history, its facilities and the species studied there. It can be viewed via this link.