WATER QUALITY CRITERIA FOR EUROPEAN FRESHWATER FISH. Report on Water Temperature and Inland Fisheries based mainly on Slavonic Literature. EIFAC Technical Paper No. 6.
In establishing water quality criteria for European inland fisheries, temperature plays an important role, mine industry uses substantial quantities of water for cooling purposes.
There is a normal range of temperatures in the temperate region between 0 and 30°C, to which fish are adapted. Fish differ, however, in their tolerance to high temperature, depending on species, stage of development, acclimation temperature, dissolved oxygen, pollution, season and the extent to which the environment is heated. In this report, tentative teperature criteria are proposed which take no account of the effect of pollution. It was essential to make a distinction between the temperature conditions permissible at different times of the year and to assess not only maximum permissible temperatures but also maximum permissible increments of temperature.