Location
UMass Amherst
Event Website
http://fishpassage.ecs.umass.edu/Conference2012/
Start Date
5-6-2012 1:30 PM
End Date
5-6-2012 1:50 PM
Description
The upstream passage of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) at hydroelectric dams along the Atlantic Coast of the U.S. has been an ongoing goal for decades. The Boott Station Hydroelectric facility on the Merrimack River in Massachusetts uses a fish lift to move migrating American shad upstream past the project. Research has been ongoing in an effort improve passage success at this site. To this end, a study was conducted in 2011 with three-dimensional acoustic telemetry to track fish movements in the project tailrace. Previous evaluations at this site included radio tracking of tagged fish near the project; however, 3D acoustic telemetry provided greater resolution of fish behavior near the entrance to the fish lift system. During the 25-day study, over 7.5 million tag detections (7.5 GB of raw data) were logged by the system. The behavior of 49 adult shad was tracked in the Lowell tailrace. This paper will review the results of this study and will demonstrate the utility of 3D acoustic telemetry for tracking fish in a turbulent tailrace environment.
Session D2 - Use of 3D Acoustic Telemetry to Monitor Upstream Passage of American Shad on the Merrimack River in Massachusetts
UMass Amherst
The upstream passage of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) at hydroelectric dams along the Atlantic Coast of the U.S. has been an ongoing goal for decades. The Boott Station Hydroelectric facility on the Merrimack River in Massachusetts uses a fish lift to move migrating American shad upstream past the project. Research has been ongoing in an effort improve passage success at this site. To this end, a study was conducted in 2011 with three-dimensional acoustic telemetry to track fish movements in the project tailrace. Previous evaluations at this site included radio tracking of tagged fish near the project; however, 3D acoustic telemetry provided greater resolution of fish behavior near the entrance to the fish lift system. During the 25-day study, over 7.5 million tag detections (7.5 GB of raw data) were logged by the system. The behavior of 49 adult shad was tracked in the Lowell tailrace. This paper will review the results of this study and will demonstrate the utility of 3D acoustic telemetry for tracking fish in a turbulent tailrace environment.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/fishpassage_conference/2012/June5/23
Comments
Mr. Hogan is involved with various aspects of biological issues related to hydroelectric projects and industrial water intakes. Much of his work focuses on improving fish passage and protection efficiency and minimizing the adverse environmental impacts associated with the operation of hydroelectric projects, power plant cooling water intake structures, desalination facility intakes, and marine renewable energy technologies such as hydrokinetic turbines and ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) plants. Mr. Hogan conducts biological evaluations of fish passage and protection technologies in both laboratory and field settings. Recent and on-going projects include: 1) an evaluation of fish protection alternatives for intakes at desalination facilities; 2) a 3D acoustic telemetry study of upstream migrating fish at a hydroelectric project; and 3) a field sampling study of ichthyoplankton at a potential OTEC site in Kauai.