FISHWAY RESEARCH AT THE FISHERIES-ENGINEERING 

 RESEARCH LABORATORY 



by 



Gerald B. Collins and Carl H. Elling 



Fishwiiy problems are many and complex on the 

 Columbia River system where a long series of 

 major dams interrupts the migration of several 

 species of anadromous fishes. Adult fish returning 

 to the Columbia from the sea may have to ascend 

 as many as nine dams to reach their spawning 

 areas. Young fish must pass downstream over all 

 of these dams on their journey to the sea. Even 

 small losses, injuries, or delays in the passage over 

 each dam could threaten the entire fishery resource 

 because of the cumulative effects of many dams. 

 Similarly, the costs involved in providing adequate 

 fishvvays to pass fish safely over a large dam must 

 be multiplied by the increasing number of dams. 

 It is therefore highly important that fish passage 

 facilities be designed with both a maximum of 

 safety for fish and also a maximum of economy in 

 construction and operation costs. To accomphsh 

 these goals obviously requires a sound basic 

 knowledge of the behavior, abilities, and require- 

 ments of migratory fish, particularly in relation 

 to fish ways. 



To supply precise information on the behavior 

 and performance of migrating fish, a special type 

 of laboratory was constructed ' in wliich it is 

 possible to measure the reactions of fish under 

 controlled experimental conditions while the fish 

 are actually migrating. The Fislieries-Engineering 

 Research Laboratory adjoining one of the nnijor 

 fishways at Bomieville Dam (fig. 1) is the only 



Note. — Gerald B. Collins and Carl H. Idling, Fishery 

 Research Biologist.s, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, U.S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service, Seattle, Wa.shiiigton. 



' Financed by the U.S. Army Corps of Kngineers as a 

 part of their Fi.sheries-Kngineering Research Program for 

 the purpose of providing design criteria for more econom- 

 ical and more efficient fish-passage facilities at the Corps' 

 projects on the Columbia River. 



laboratory of its kind in the world. Fish diverted 

 (fig. 2) from the Washington-shore fishway at 

 Bonneville Dam swim into this laboratory (fig. 3) 

 where their responses to full-scale fishway situa- 

 tions are observed and recorded. Fish then swim 

 out of the laboratory and re-enter the main fishway 

 to continue their migration upstream. 



The laboratory basically consists of a level 

 experimental flume (fig. 4) with a fish collection 

 pool at the downstream end that is connected to 

 the main fishway by a small entrance fishway 

 ("B" in fig. 2), and with a flow introduction pool 

 at the upstream end that is connected to the main 

 fishway by an exit fishway ("F" in fig. 2). Vari- 

 ous tjT^es of fishway structures are erected (fig. 5) 

 in the experimental area while it is dry, then water 

 is introduced and the gates to the main fishway 

 are opened to permit the entry of fish. A water 

 supply and discharge system is independent of 

 the main fishway and is capable of delivering and 

 discharging up to 200 cubic feet of water per 

 second without disturbing the flow pattern of the 

 main fishway outside. Light control is provided 

 by a completely covered building and eighty 

 1,000-watt mercury-vapor lamps (fig. 6) that 

 under standard operating conditions produce 

 illumination equivalent to a cloudy bright day. 

 The ability to control large flows, water levels, 

 structures, and light makes it possible to create 

 a wide variety of test coiulitions. Adult migrating 

 fish are available to tlie laboratory for approxi- 

 mately 6 months of the year. Migrants include 

 Chinook salmon {Oncorhynchus tshawyt.scha) , blue- 

 back salmon {0. nerka), silver salmon (0. kisutch), 

 steelhead trout {Salmo (fairdneri), shad {Alosa 

 sapidisdma), and also the Pacific lamprey (Lam- 

 petra tridentata). 



