Fish Passage Technologies

Dams can be found in just about every major river, and for good reason. Society has received many benefits like flood control, hydropower, water supply storage, and places to recreate. However, many fish and other life in our rivers can’t swim around these barriers. Often, the best spot for a fish to live and reproduce is out of reach because they can’t pass by a dam. This has not gone unnoticed...

A major focus of USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center's S.O. Conte Research Laboratory in Turners Falls, MA is the design and evaluation of state-of the-art upstream and downstream fish passage structures for hydropower facilities of different sizes and locations and for different fish species, including endangered sturgeons and Atlantic salmon. Performance, physiology, behavior and energetics...

Engineering has an important role to play in the conservation of migratory fish species. As a result of anthropogenic development on river systems, full and partial barriers to fish movement commonly exist in watersheds worldwide. There is an estimated 2.5 million barriers to fish migration in the United States alone. These barriers typically consist of small to large size dams, culverts, and...

Many existing upstream and downstream fish passage structure designs (fishways, culverts, screens, downstream bypasses, etc.) function poorly or only for a narrow range of species or environmental conditions. Resource agencies consistently seek new or improved designs that pass a broader range of species with high efficiency and reliability, under a wider range of hydraulic operating conditions...