Riverwatcher - the fish counter

With more than 30 years of experience and continuous research and development, the Riverwatcher has a reliable record of reliability and accuracy. By now, the Riverwatcher monitors fish and their migratory behavior in more than 300 rivers worldwide, in a large number of fishways, at weirs and at bottlenecks located in the river.
Various designs are available to adapt the system to the watercourse or location depending on the situation. The Riverwatcher can also be customized to meet individual needs.
More information about the Riverwatcher from VAKI can be found in this brochure.

The system is developed and built by VAKI in Iceland. VAKI is the world's leading company in the design and manufacture of systems for aquaculture, fish stock surveys and fish management. VAKI has a worldwide service network and supplies to over 50 countries.

The Riverwatcher is installed in fish bypasses or other suitable constrictions in the watercourse. Two vertically arranged rows of IR light barriers are used to create the silhouettes and determine the swimming direction. When a fish passes the scanner, it is registered, and the size is determined based on the captured silhouettes.

The Riverwatcher can also be equipped with a camera and a light source. Both are supplied as a combined system with visible light and IR. Depending on the location and time, it is possible to switch between both spectral ranges. The IR range is particularly suitable for operation at night and for the detection of light-shy species.

Riverwatcher

Winari is the software developed by VAKI for editing and analyzing all Riverwatcher data. The data from the Scanner is merged with the videos here and can be edited. Afterwards an upload to Riverwatcher Daily is possible. In Winari several systems can be edited at the same time. An export of the data to Excel is also possible.

System requirements: Windows XP, 7, 8, 8.1, 10

Attention: Winari stores all data in a database. Please make sure that you always have access to the database directory and have write access.

Remote support with Teamviewer (no program will be installed on your computer. After termination, access is no longer possible)

Alternative: Installation of TeamViewer as a permanent service in the background

Installations in Germany

The Riverwatcher fish counter is successfully used in Germany since 2006. Over the years, numerous systems have been added for a wide variety of applications. In addition to the functional check of fish passes, the Riverwatcher is also used to control measures (fish stocking, change in temperature regime) and to analyze species composition.

Als Beispiel für die Installation eines Kamerasystems finden Sie eine Virtuelle Tour des System in Unterseen (Kanton Bern, Schweiz) hier.


Lachsbach, Rathmannsdorf, Saxony
Scanner unit used to monitor the success of salmon rearing in the Elbe River basin. Installation at the exit of a fish pass.

Moselle, Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate
Camera system in a special design with double height for the observation of fish migration behavior and for the analysis of species composition in the Moselle. The system is housed in a fish pass and is operated as a research system by the Federal Institute of Hydrology.

Dhünn, Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Camera system installed in the exit of a fish pass. The system is used to determine the species composition as a result of the change in the temperature regime of the Dhünn River due to the construction of a variable depth outlet in the Great Dhünn Dam.

Sieg, Buisdorf, North Rhine-Westphalia
Camera system installed in a fish pass. The system is used to monitor salmon and lake trout.

Changing water bodies, Berlin
Camera system, which is used mobile and is mostly installed directly in the water, outside of fish passes. The system is deployed on a task-specific and time-limited basis in water bodies in and around Berlin.

Neckar, bypass channel on the Zugwiesen, Ludwigsburg, Baden-Wuerttemberg
Camera system, installed in a near-natural bypass channel in the Zugwiesen, for the observation of fish fauna.

Lahn, Giessen, Hesse
Camera system, permanently installed for monitoring in a fish pass. A special feature of the system is the medial processing of the data, which can be viewed in the Lahn window, as well as the possibility to view the system underwater through a observation window. Further information on the website of the > RP Giessen

Ruhr barrage Baldeney, North Rhine-Westphalia (end of 2019)
Camera system in the exit area of the fish pass at the Baldeney barrage. Camera system at double height without scanner.


Installations in Austria
The Riverwatcher fish counter has been successfully used in Austria since 2013. Over the years, numerous systems have been added for a wide variety of applications. In addition to the functional check of fish passes, the Riverwatcher is also used to control measures (fish stocking, change in temperature regime) and to analyze species composition.

Pitze, Wenns, Tyrol
Scanner system installed in a rest basin of a fish pass at the Pitze in the Pitztal for function check.

Inn, Langkampfen, Tyrol
Camera system, installed in a rest basin of a fish pass at the Inn for function check.

Inn, Runserau, Tyrol
Camera system, installed at the end of the fish pass and entrance of the fish lift at the weir Runserau. As a special feature, the Riverwatcher can also be used here to control the fish lift.

Inn, Kirchbichl, Tyrol
Camera system installed in a rest basin of a fish pass on the Inn River for function check.

References – Installations in Switzerland
The Riverwatcher fish counter has been successfully used in Switzerland since 2007. Over the years, numerous systems have been added for a wide variety of applications. In addition to the functional check of fish passes, the Riverwatcher is also used to control measures (fish stocking, change in temperature regime) and to analyze species composition.

Aare, Unterseen, Canton Bern
Camera system installed in a fish pass in the Aare River in Unterseen between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz to monitor species composition. > Virtual tour of the system

Rhine, Reichenau, Canton Grisons
Camera system installed in a fish pass at power station Reichenau, to record lake trout migrating up from Lake Constance.

 

Riverwatcher