We have now captured over 100,000 fish at the new downstream fish facility at Round Butte Dam. The numbers of salmon smolts (juvenile salmon migrating to the ocean) entering the new fish facilities increased dramatically during March and April, with several days when more than 7,000 salmon and steelhead were caught. The fish passage crew worked overtime to get them sorted, marked, transported to the lower Deschutes River and released safely to continue their journey to the Pacific.

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It all seems surreal. I’ve been a biologist at the Pelton Round Butte Project since 1971. That was only a few years after we learned that the original downstream fish passage system was unworkable because fish couldn’t find the outlet. The fact that we have completed the new selective water withdrawal intake and downstream fish facility at Round Butte Dam – and are passing salmon smolts downstream – is amazing!

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Our April 28, 2008, blog entry described an experiment designed to see if feeding the young fry for 10 days before release increased their survival. To tell the two groups apart, Megan Hill, our lead studies biologist, experimentally marked the fed half with the chemical called “calcein.” The chemical is taken into bony parts of the small fish and shows up yellow under a special light. Read the rest of this entry »

 

In February 2008, biologists and volunteer released approximately 150,000 spring Chinook fry into the upper MetoliusRiver Basin. (See March 17, 2008, blog entry). The fish were released in small groups along the shoreline, in quiet areas with hiding cover, where small salmon fry normally rear. Read the rest of this entry »

Megan Hill, our fish research lead biologist, has been studying the effect of feeding Chinook fry for a short period prior to their release. Do they grow faster? Do they have a better survival rate?
To find out, she and her assistants arranged for 10 days of extra feeding at Round Butte Hatchery for half of the spring Chinook that were planted in the upper Metolius Basin in late February 2008. The other half - about 75,000 fish - were released right from the incubators to begin feeding after release. Read the rest of this entry »

As we assess the effectiveness of the new fish passage system, we will need to know how many steelhead and spring Chinook smolts successfully pass through Lake Billy Chinook and the fish collection facility. To do this, we will be operating several downstream-migrant fish traps in the tributaries to Lake Billy Chinook to capture and tag these smolts. continue reading…

A key milestone for the restoration of fish runs above Lake Billy Chinook took place Feb. 26 and 27, when 150,000 Spring Chinook fry were released into the upper Metolius River. These young fish will be the first to use the new Deschutes passage system. In spring 2009, when they’re ready to migrate downstream, the project will be completed and the fish will be safely transported around the dams. PGE fish biologist Don Ratliff took part in the release and provided this first-hand report. continue reading…

A key milestone for the restoration of fish runs above Lake Billy Chinook took place Feb. 26 and 27, when 150,000 Spring Chinook fry were released into the upper Metolius River. These young fish will be the first to use the new Deschutes passage system. In spring 2009, when they’re ready to migrate downstream, the project will be completed and the fish will be safely transported around the dams. PGE fish biologist Don Ratliff took part in the release and provided this first-hand report. continue reading…