Passage of Adult Salmon and Trout though an Inclined Pipe

This research was designed to determine if migrating adult salmon and trout at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River would use as a passageway an inclined pipe that required them to make a descent and an ascent before they reached the upstream end of the pipe. Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), sockeye salmon (O. nerka), coho salmon (O. kisutch), and steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri) were tested with water velocities of about 0.30, 0.76, and 1.22 m/sec in a pipe that was 0.61 m in diameter and 31.4 m long. From 64 to 100% of the fish passed through the inclined pipe during a 45-min period. Median passage times ranged from 3 to 23 min. Chinook salmon passed through the pipe most rapidly at the 0.76 m/sec flow; coho salmon and steelhead trout passed through in the least time at 1.22 m/sec. Sockeye salmon passed through equally well at flows of 0.76 and 1.22 m/sec

Laboratory Evaluation of a Denil-Type Steeppass Fishway with Various Entrance and Exit Conditions for Passage of Adult Salmonids and American Shad

This research was designed to determine the feasibility of using a Denil-type fishway as part of a system to trap marked adult salmon and trout ascending a pool-and-overfall fishway at Little Goose Dam on the Snake River. Several entrance and exit situations were tested along with two methods (hollow weir and a pool) of supplying water to the Denil. Water supplied directly to the Denil through a hollow weir provided the best passage conditions for chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), sockeye salmon (O. nerka), steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri) and American shad (Alosa sapidissima). Salmonids and shad readily entered and ascended a Denil fishway when the downstream end was submerged to a depth of 2.5 feet. Chinook salmon, coho salmon (O. kisutch), and steelhead trout readily passed through a Denil steeppass fishway that was 50 feet long and positioned at a slope of 28.7 percent

Passage of Adult Salmon and Trout Through Pipes

Pipes, which are relatively inexpensive and easily installed, are an economical and efficient solution to certain problems of fish passage at dams and at other obstacles blocking migratory routes. The purposes of this study (1963-1964) were to determine: (1) if adult salmon and trout at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River would use a pipe as a passageway and (2) how the conditions at the entrance and within the pipe, diameter and length, illumination, and flow would influence passage. The pipes were 0.3, 0.6, and 0.9 m. in diameter and were 27.4 to 82.3 m. long. Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), sockeye salmon (O. nerka), coho salmon (O. kisutch), and steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri) passed through unilluminated pipes up to 82.3 m. long. Of the four species tested, only steelhead trout appeared to benefit appreciably from illumination. For distances up to 82.3 m., a 0.6-m.-diameter pipe was large enough to pass all salmon and trout. The fish passed through a 0.6 m.-diameter pipe when it was flooded or partly filled with water, but did not readily enter a 0.3-m. pipe until special conditions of water velocity and transition from pool to pipe were provided

Use of a fish transportation barge for increasing returns of steelhead imprinted for homing

In 1982, the National Marine Fisheries Service, under contract to the Bonneville PowerAdministration, began a S-year study to determine if serially releasing steelhead, (Salmogairdneri), smolts over a 40-day period and transporting them by barge to a release site in theColumbia River below Bonneville Dam would result in increased returns of adults to DworshakNational Fish Hatchery.Over 252,000 smolts were marked for the study; about 30,000 fish for each of five test lots(transported) and three control lots (released into the Clearwater River at the hatchery). Serialreleases of test fish (barged to the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam) were made on 19April, 30 April, 19 May, and 31 May 1982. Paired control groups (fish released as normal hatcheryproduction into the Clearwater River) were released with the first three tests. In the interest ofmarking fewer fish, no control group was released with the last test.Recoveries of control releases at dams along the migration route indicated a high survival toLower Granite Dam and a low survival from there to John Day Dam. Approximately 57% of thecontrol releases were transported from collector dams (Lower Granite, Little Goose, and McNary),as part of the routine transportation program.The health and status of smoltification for the juvenile fish were monitored from mid-March to therelease date for each group. This phase of the study was conducted under subcontract to theUniversity of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho. The fish sampled were generally determined to be clinicallyhealthy.Final evaluation of the study will be based on the numbers of adults returning in ensuing years toColumbia River fisheries; adult collector points at Bonneville, McNary, and Lower Granite Dams;fisheries in Idaho; and the Dworshak National Fish Hatchery

The Effect of Denil Fishway Length on Passage of Some Nonsalmonid Fishes

This paper documents the success of passage of some non-salmonid fishes through Denil-type steeppass fishways of varying length and slope. Length ranged from 7.9 m (26 feet) to 20.1 m (66 feet), and slope ranged between 23.3 and 28.7 percent. American shad, Alosa sapidissima; common carp, Cyprinus carpio; chiselmouth, Acrocheilus alutaceus; northern squawfish, Ptychocheilus oregonensis; Pacific lamprey, Lampetra tridentata; and suckers, Catostomus sp., were observed at Bonneville and McNary dams on the Columbia River and Little Goose Dam on the Snake River from 1971 to 1979. These fish were successful in ascending the 7.9 m (26 foot) fishway, and all but the common carp ascended the 15.2 m (50 foot) fishway. When the length was extended to 20.1 m (66 feet), no American shad or resident freshwater fish were observed ascending and passing through the Denil. Salmonids and Pacific lamprey, however, were able to successfully pass through all lengths of Denil fishways tested. These observations indicate that Denil ladders of selected length could be used, if desired, to pass salmonid fishes over small barriers while denying upstream access to certain unwanted nonsalmonids

Response of Migrating Adult Salmonids to Vertical and Horizontal Rectangular Orifices at Two Depths

The response of migrating adult salmonids to various placements of rectangular fishway orifices was studied at the Fisheries-Engineering Research Laboratory, on the Washington end of Bonneville Dam. Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri), and coho salmon (O. kisutch) approaching a vertical wall had the the alternatives of entering rectangular orifices positioned either horizontally or vertically and either shallow (3 feet) or deep (9 feet). The responses of the three species to the various orifice conditions are analyzed. More migrants passed through shallow orifices than deep orifices, and more salmonids entered vertical orifices than horizontal orifices

Further studies regarding effects of transportation on survival and homing of Snake River Chinook salmon and steelhead trout

The homing ability of adult fish that were captured during their seaward migration asjuveniles and then transported downstream (from Ice Harbor Dam to Bonneville Dam) was notdiminished. Data from returning adults indicated survival of adult fish that had been transporteddownstream as juveniles was higher than that of fish not transported. The percentage ofincreased survival ranged from 50 to 300% depending on the river environment during the time oftransport. Information on the timing of the seaward migration and the extent of mixing of seawardruns of spring and summer Chinook salmon, (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), was also obtained