Due to the difficulties in defining a state of the art for the construction and operation of fish protection and downstream fish migration facilities, only three countries have introduced a generally applicable set of rules or recommendations (five countries) for ensuring downstream continuity. Most countries (twelve) define measures for fish protection and downstream fish migration at the specific site. In France, Norway, Spain, Portugal, and some German Federal States case-by-case decisions are made in water bodies not listed as priority water bodies in the legislation or the strategy papers. In seven countries there are general but no specific requirements.

This infographic provides an overview of the prevalence of strategic concepts for hydropower utilisation and general methods or recommendations for ensuring downstream continuity in Europe. The infographic is part of a fact sheet on fish protection targets in Europe.

The infographic is published under a creative commons license CC BY 4.0. That means it can be copied and redistributed in any medium or format and for any purpose as long as appropriate credit to the authors (Ecologic Institute, Ingenieurbüro Floecksmühle, German Environment Agency) is given.