A3
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2021
Watershed Watch
New, tiny batteries, designed at Pacifi c Northwest National Laboratory, will allow researchers
to better study young sockeye salmon above Grand Coulee Dam, part of reintroduction eff orts
for salmon in the upper Columbia River.
Smaller fi sh tags to
help sockeye studies
Smaller than a
grain of rice
By COURTNEY FLATT
Northwest News Network
Tracking some young
salmon has always had one
hitch: the tiny fi sh are too
small for the injectable tags
researchers use to track fi sh
as they move past hydro-
power dams. To make the
tags smaller, researchers also
had to shrink the batteries that
power the fi sh tags.
Now, new battery tech-
nology developed at Pacifi c
Northwest National Labora-
tory will allow researchers to
better study small fi sh, such
as juvenile sockeye salmon
and Pacifi c lamprey.
Larger batteries have lim-
ited the size of fi sh tags, which
means they can’t be injected
into very small fi sh, said Dan-
iel Deng, a mechanical engi-
neer with Pacifi c Northwest
National Laboratory.
“Larger batteries automat-
ically exclude many of those
sensitive species that we want
to study,” Deng said.
The smaller the fi sh tag,
the better the survival rate for
salmon, said Brian Bellgraph,
a freshwater fi sheries ecolo-
gist with Pacifi c Northwest
National Laboratory.
To study and track the
juvenile salmon, researchers
inject the small tags into fi sh.
“I call it an outpatient pro-
cedure for fi sh,” Deng joked.
Larger tags must be surgi-
cally implanted.
With the development of
the new battery technology,
researchers would like to
study young sockeye salmon
that will be released above
Grand Coulee Dam, a part
of reintroduction eff orts for
salmon in the u pper Colum-
bia River.
This could be one of the
fi rst juvenile sockeye acous-
tic fi sh tag studies, Bellgraph
said.
“Getting really spe-
cifi c information on them at
hydropower dams is some-
thing that hasn’t really been
done,” Bellgraph said.
Chief Joseph and Grand
Coulee dams have blocked
migrating salmon from the
u pper Columbia for around
100 years. The Upper Colum-
bia United Tribes want to
reintroduce salmon into the
blocked area.
So far, research sug-
gests salmon can survive
behind the dams. Research-
ers want to know more about
the salmon released in the
blocked areas as they migrate
out to sea.
The study would provide
more information about how
and when juvenile sockeye
migrate through dams.
However, Bellgraph said,
there will be some challenges.
For example, young sock-
eye head out to sea at diff er-
ent times – some sockeye
leave right away and other
sockeye hang around Lake
Roosevelt up to a year after
they’ve hatched, Bellgraph
said.
Those diff erences in
migration mean research-
ers may design two diff er-
ent studies, Bellgraph said. In
one study, the fi sh tags would
ping tracking receivers right
away. In another , the fi sh
tags would have a six-month
delayed start.
The delayed pinging
would allow researchers to
track fi sh for up to a year,
Bellgraph said.
The new tags are smaller
than a grain of rice. The bat-
teries that power the tags are
smaller, lighter and last lon-
ger than old technology,
Deng said.
“Battery life is really
important, especially if you
want to study fi sh in the u pper
Columbia River because it
will take them longer to get
to the ocean,” Deng said.
Deng and his team also
have designed small tags that
researchers can inject into
Pacifi c lamprey and Ameri-
can eels, which are dwindling
in the eastern U.S.
“If American eels are
added to the e ndangered s pe-
cies l ist, a lot of hydropower
in the eastern U.S. will be
aff ected,” Deng said.
Hopefully, Deng said, the
tags can provide information
to help the eels so that they
aren’t added to the l ist.
Additionally, researchers
plan to use the smaller tags
to study juvenile lamprey at
Lower Granite Dam on the
Snake River. That research
should begin this spring.
An even smaller, next-gen-
eration battery in the works
could help researchers study
invasive shad in the North-
west, Deng said.
“They are everywhere in
fi sh ladders in the Columbia,”
Deng said.
Researchers plan to test
the American shad tag next
year, Deng said. Although
the next-generation tag is
designed to study shad, he
said it could benefi t other
small fi sh.
Market
LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED
WHERE THE MEAT LOVERS SHOP
ADOPT A TEEN
for Christmas
Miracle on
Drop off your donation of bottles or cans and it will be
matched! Help support our effort to make Chistmas
brighter for deserving local Warrenton High School teens!
Van Dusen Beverage, Clatsop Distributing, and
Main St. Market are all matching donations this year.
The matching dates will begin on December 1st
HELP OUR LOCAL
KIDS HAVE A
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
State parks: Recruiting has been a challenge
Continued from Page A1
Park managers hope to
make park wide upgrades
and potentially add a new
cabin loop and tent sites,
among other improvements.
More pressing from an oper-
ational side is a proposal to
add housing for seasonal
staff .
This year was one of
the most challenging when
it came to recruiting and
retaining seasonal staff ,
Parker said.
Across the North Coast
district, which includes
Fort Stevens, Nehalem
Bay and Cape Lookout, the
parks were able to hire only
around 30% to 40% of the
necessary seasonal staff on
average.
People wanted the jobs
but struggled to fi nd hous-
ing, a familiar woe echoed
across multiple industries
and by numerous employers
on the coast.
The state has focused
on recruiting locally, try-
ing to attract people who are
already established in the
area. In some cases, parks
have been able to off er peo-
ple a longer season to work.
“We’ve realized we’re
not immune to the housing
shortages and the challenges
all the other employers in
the area are encountering,”
Parker said.
WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
GIVE A GIFT
THAT COUNTS!
GIVE CHARITABLE DONATIONS AS GIFTS THIS YEAR!
YOU CAN VIEW OUR FULL AD SEVERAL WAYS
We are an all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming
lives of children and strengthening our local Clatsop County community.
ONLINE AT www.MainStSelect.com
Our philanthropic programs include: Operation School Bell®, Duffel Bag, School
Activity Scholarships, Operation Scholarships and Cinderella’s Closet.
Visit our website at www.assistanceleaguecp.org for full information.
facebook.com/MainStSelectMarket
IN STORE find our printed ad
191 S. Main Ave., Warrenton
503-861-2271
ww.MainStSelect.com