Location

UMass Amherst

Start Date

28-6-2011 1:35 PM

End Date

28-6-2011 1:55 PM

Description

Many anadromous fish species, such as Pacific and Atlantic salmon (Onchorhynchus spp.; Sahno sp.) and the shads and river herring (Alosa spp.), are in danger of extinction throughout some or all of their range. Many state and federal laws now mandate protection of these and other fish populations. Impacts to these populations include entrainment at hydroelectric dams and other water conveyance facilities. Facility operators must often implement physical or operational modifications to reduce fish entrainment. This paper documents a positive barrier Fish Guidance System (FGS) that has successfully guided actively migrating juvenile anadromous fish to safer bypass systems, thereby reducing entrainment. Most juvenile anadromous species migrate in the thalweg, taking advantage of higher velocity water to speed their migration. The FGS design takes advantage of this migratory behavior and guides fish to a safer point of egress. The FGS is composed of a series of floating panels anchored across the channel above an intake structure. The design and configuration of the FGS varies at each site according to hydraulic conditions and species present. Recent fish passage research demonstrates that the FGS provides variable, but significant, guidance for many juvenile fish species in a variety of hydraulic conditions. A prototype FGS installed in a high velocity environment improved guidance of juvenile Pacific salmon to an existing fish bypass system by up to 15%. In a low velocity environment, over 90% of radio tagged juvenile Pacific salmon were guided to the location of a small surface fish collector. The FGS may also provide some benefit to adult fish migrating downstream, but this has not yet been tested to date. Guidance and passage survival are being tested at several more FGS installations in 2011.

Comments

Shane Scott is a fisheries biologist and owner of S. Scott & Associates LLC in Vancouver, WA. He currently represents public power utilities and other river oriented industries on fish and wildlife issues pertinent to the Federal Columbia River Power System. He represents clients on various regional technical committees charged with developing both mitigation projects and research to improve fish survival through the federal hydrosystem. Previously, he served in a similar capacity as the Senior Policy Analyst for Fish and Wildlife at the Public Power Council in Portland, Oregon. Prior to this position, he worked for the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife as the Columbia River Policy Coordinator on federal hydropower issues in the Columbia River basin. Mr. Scott started working in the hydro industry in 1994 when he was employed as a fisheries biologist in the Natural Resources Management Group at Tacoma Power. Before this he worked as a consultant designing fish hatcheries and conducting fish and wildlife assessments in the Pacific Northwest. Mr. Scott has a B.S. degree from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA.

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Jun 28th, 1:35 PM Jun 28th, 1:55 PM

Session A5- A positive barrier guidance system designed to improve safe downstream passage of anadromous fish

UMass Amherst

Many anadromous fish species, such as Pacific and Atlantic salmon (Onchorhynchus spp.; Sahno sp.) and the shads and river herring (Alosa spp.), are in danger of extinction throughout some or all of their range. Many state and federal laws now mandate protection of these and other fish populations. Impacts to these populations include entrainment at hydroelectric dams and other water conveyance facilities. Facility operators must often implement physical or operational modifications to reduce fish entrainment. This paper documents a positive barrier Fish Guidance System (FGS) that has successfully guided actively migrating juvenile anadromous fish to safer bypass systems, thereby reducing entrainment. Most juvenile anadromous species migrate in the thalweg, taking advantage of higher velocity water to speed their migration. The FGS design takes advantage of this migratory behavior and guides fish to a safer point of egress. The FGS is composed of a series of floating panels anchored across the channel above an intake structure. The design and configuration of the FGS varies at each site according to hydraulic conditions and species present. Recent fish passage research demonstrates that the FGS provides variable, but significant, guidance for many juvenile fish species in a variety of hydraulic conditions. A prototype FGS installed in a high velocity environment improved guidance of juvenile Pacific salmon to an existing fish bypass system by up to 15%. In a low velocity environment, over 90% of radio tagged juvenile Pacific salmon were guided to the location of a small surface fish collector. The FGS may also provide some benefit to adult fish migrating downstream, but this has not yet been tested to date. Guidance and passage survival are being tested at several more FGS installations in 2011.