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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2021)
B3 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 2021 Salmon: ‘The fi sh ladders aren’t enough’ Continued from Page B2 “You place the entry where the fi sh want to be,” Bryan said. Scanning fi sh Another big advantage of the portal, Bryan said, is it can scan fi sh and iden- tify which ones should be transported over the dams. That can help to keep out non-native species, such as shad, he said. The lower Snake River is about as far inland as shad swim, according to the Northwest Power and Conservation Coun- cil, an advisory group that develops a regional power plan and fi sh and wild- life program. Most of the annual run spawns down- stream of McNary Dam on the Columbia River. The Columbia River now has the largest known popula- tion of shad in the world, according to the U.S. Geo- logical Survey. The shad could increase competition for space and cause migra- tory delays. More study is needed, according to the Geological Survey. On the Snake River, Army Corps of Engineers fi sh biologists said shad can cause problems, most often after they spawn and die. The dead fi sh can clog areas near fi sh ladders, although biologists said they don’t aff ect salmon passage in the ladders. Bryan said the Passage Portal system could sort shad without people han- dling the fi sh. The system takes 18 photos of each fi sh less than a second after it has swum into the system. The pictures determine the species of fi sh, whether it’s injured or if it’s a hatchery or wild fi sh. All of that data can help track the success of the sys- tem, Bryan said. Fish that managers want to continue on then swim Whooshh Innovations A demonstration project at Chief Joseph Dam moved salmon over the dam. The dam has blocked the area to fi sh since it was built in the 1950s. into the tubes without real- izing they’ve left the river, Bryan said. “Once the fi sh enters our system, they’re going to be delivered to the top of the dam and into the water in seconds,” Bryan said. This could make salmon feel like they have a more natural swim upriver to spawn, Bryan said. Helping fi sh now This proposal isn’t meant to replace discus- sion on whether to remove or alter the four contro- versial dams on the lower Snake, he said. It’s more of a Band-Aid to help fi sh now, he said, while other plans are considered. Those discussions, Bryan said, could take years to start to help salmon. A comprehensive $33.5 bil- lion proposal by U.S. Rep. SUNDAY Mike Simpson, an Idaho Republican, to remove the Snake River dams could take 10 years. “What can we do in those 10 years to make sure that there’s any fi sh left?” Bryan said. Bryan estimated his company’s device could cost $67 million. Bryan said the tech- nology has been proven. Last year, the Passage Por- tal system helped salmon navigate giant boulders in a remote part of British Columbia. A massive landslide had blocked the Fraser River, with enough debris to fi ll 45 Olympic-size swimming pools, and prevented fi sh passage upstream. To help fi x the prob- lem, according to Cana- da’s Fisheries and Oceans department, it awarded the Whooshh Passage Portal system a $4.45 million con- tract. The system moved about 8,200 salmon past the landslide. “The technology worked well at moving fi sh effi - ciently past the barrier without handling, therefore reducing stress to fi sh,” said spokesperson Kavitha Palanisamy. “However, due to the very remote loca- tion; challenging weather conditions, including high water levels that disrupted operations; and construc- tion diffi culties, fi sh were not moved as far above the slide site as intended.” Other emergency transportation measures included a concrete fi sh ladder, a fi sh wheel to cap- ture salmon and a truck and transport system. In total, more than 161,000 salmon made it beyond the debris. AFTERNOON Columbia United Tribes are studying salmon rein- troduction to the upper Columbia River. The tribes have said one solution could be a Whooshh sys- tem. Other options could include trucking salmon around Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams. While the lower Snake River fi sh ladders have helped fi sh move upstream, more needs to be done, Bryan said, especially as the climate warms waters and decreases water fl ows, making it harder on salmon to reach their spawning grounds. “The fi sh ladders aren’t enough,” Bryan said. “At least when you have multi- ple dams in a row.” Bryan said Whooshh Innovations could get a system up and running on the Snake River by 2023. Get to The Point. Live Join us for the following upcoming performances! Visit our website at sundayafternoonlive.org for locations, show times and upcoming performances! Raymond, Washington The Fraser River proj- ect was smaller in scale than what the company has proposed for all the Snake River dams, Bryan said. But, he said, it was tech- nically more complicated because of the remote loca- tion of the landslide and emergency situation. “Compared to what we did on the Fraser River, every project we look at now seems so straightfor- ward,” Bryan said. For example, in 2019 the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, with other state and federal agencies, demonstrated the same portal system at Chief Joseph Dam on the Colum- bia River. Fish haven’t been able to make it around the dam since it was built in the 1950s. To bring salmon back to the blocked area, the Upper Expert Service. Guaranteed. Trust your vehicle safety to the professionals at DEL’S O.K. TIRE SUNDAE & MR. GOESSL TRAY DAHL AND THE JUGTIME RAGBAND Sunday, August 29, 2021 Sunday, October 3, 2021 August Tire Sale Sunday, November 14, 2021 Buy advance tickets at: www.sundayafternoonlive.org or by phone (360) 836-4419 PO Box 964, South Bend, WA. 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