Juvenile Salmonid Collector Evaluation

Four Peaks scientists and engineers are leading a combined PIT- and acoustic-telemetry juvenile salmon passage evaluation to evaluate the efficacy of a floating surface collector following physical modifications made in 2018. The ongoing evaluation provides reach-specific conversion estimates of juvenile steelhead, Coho Salmon, and Chinook Salmon, as well as near-field behaviors and bottlenecks in achieving passage objectives. Our scientists and engineers have also advised on velocities, vibration, and operational issues that negatively influence collection rates as well as alternative life histories that are expressed in reservoirs above high-head dams in the Pacific Northwest. Four Peaks engineers developed algorithms coded in Python to position acoustic-tagged fish in three dimensions and the innovative approach is now being used at several high-head dams in the region.

Juvenile Salmonid Collector Evaluation Team

• Lucius Caldwell, scientific advisor
• Mark Weiland, scientific advisor
• Elliot Koontz, data manager
• Joel LaHaie, field deployment manager