Title
Estimation of Survival and Injuries of Atlantic Salmon Smolts in Passage Through Two Francis Turbines at the Vernon Hydroelectric Station, Connecticut River, Vermont
Publication Date
1996
Keywords
anadromous fish, Atlantic salmon, bypass, Connecticut River, fish guidance, Francis turbine, guidance, hydroelectric, hydroelectric plants, injuries, Salmo salar, salmon, smolt, survival, turbines
Abstract
None supplied. From executive summary: Although anadromous fish guidance and bypass structures have been installed at the Vernon Dam, the turbines are still available to emigrating Atlantic salmon smolts (Salmo salar) for continued downstream movement. Previous observations indicated that some proportion of the emigrating smolts utilized the turbines as a passage route. However, their fate subsequent to turbine passage was unknown. A controlled experiment using the HI-Z Turb'N Tag methodology was conducted in May, 1996 to evaluate turbine passage survival of Atlantic salmon smolts. The primary objective was to reliably estimate the immediate and long-term (48 h) passage survival and characterize the injuries of emigrating Atlantic salmon smolts introduced through Unit 10 at the efficient wicket gate setting (75%). A total of 201 Atlantic salmon smolts was utilized in a paired release design experiment over a four day period from 19 to 22 May, 1996. The control group comprised 80 smolts released over 3 days. The Vernon Project passage survival estimate was 95%. Although approximately 19% of emigrating smolts used the turbines for passage, the empirical information obtained through this passage survival study indicates that overall Project passage survival was high.