Oral Presentation International Conference on River Connectivity (Fish Passage 2018)

Merging biology and technology to achieve selective bi-directional fish passage (#81)

Daniel Zielinski 1 , Theodore Castro-Santos 2 , Andy Goodwin 3 , Tom Pratt 4 , Robert McLaughlin 5 , Andrew Muir 6
  1. Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Millersburg, MICHIGAN, United States
  2. USGS, Turners Falls
  3. USACE - ERDC, Portland
  4. DFO, Sault Ste. Marie
  5. University of Guelph, Guelph
  6. Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Ann Arbor

Selective, bi-directional fish passage can ease tensions between connectivity actions fish managers take to improve production of native and desirable fishes. Dam removal and fish passage can enhance fish production by increasing connectivity between tributaries and lakes or oceans. Conversely, in-stream barriers to movement can benefit native fishes by limiting the spread and reproduction of invasive species. To address the tensions, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission is leading a team of nearly 60 fisheries biologists, managers, and engineers in developing novel and effective tools to selectively pass desirable fishes while simultaneously blocking and removing invasive species.  A uniquely designed facility (FishPass) is being planned for construction at the Boardman River’s Union Street Dam (Traverse City, MI) to stimulate research that integrates a suite of fish sorting, guidance, and passage technologies and techniques for selective bi-directional fish passage at conditions consistent with the scale and conditions of natural rivers.  To be successful, selective fish passage solutions will require the integration and redundancy of automated technologies that both exploit and overcome sortable attributes of fish (i.e., phenology, behavior, physiology, and morphology).  This presentation will discuss the status of the FishPass including conceptual designs, research agenda, and next steps.