Scientists achieve first tracking of salmon from headwaters in Rockies through Pacific... (affecting salmon abundance. In fact ...)

Scientists achieve first tracking of salmon from headwaters in Rockies through Pacific to Alaska

Date:10/27/2008

affecting salmon abundance.

In fact, more survived in the Columbia once distance or travel time was taken into account - and survival was greater during migration within the hydropower system than below the dammed section.

Evidence does not yet suffice to tell whether the Fraser has a problem that cuts salmon survival to that of a heavily dammed river, or whether factors other than dams play a larger, unsuspected role in salmon survival.

However, "wherever future research leads on those questions, the electronic and acoustic technology has demonstrated itself as a useful tool for obtaining unique scientific data of importance in a number of public policy arenas," says lead author David W. Welch of Kintama Research, Nanaimo, British Columbia. The full authors list is appended.

Says Victor Gallardo of Chile, the Census of Marine Life's Vice Chair: "These results from North America have global implications and will be of interest in Chile, Russia, Japan, India, Ireland - indeed every nation where fish migrate between fresh and salt water."

PIT tags

The technologies used for the POST study are an alternative to Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag detection systems installed at Columbia River dams starting in the 1990s, a system that provided the first accurate measurements of salmon survival in the hydropower system.

Though reliable and smaller, PIT tags are very short-range, comparable in function to the instant pay-and-go keychain devices now offered by some oil companies to speed customers through gas stations. The PIT system requires fish to be funnelled through structures at the dams to bring their tags close enough to be read by the detectors.

Since it's impossible to install such corralling structures in free-flowing rivers, however, comparing survival in the dammed Columbia River to un-dammed rivers has been extremely difficult.

The more versatile POST tags
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Contact: Terry Collins
terrycollins@rogers.com
416-538-8712
Census of Marine Life
Source:Eurekalert

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Scientists achieve first tracking of salmon from headwaters in Rockies through Pacific...(affecting salmon abundance. In fact ...)