Whooshh Innovations, a Seattle, Washington-based company, has invented a way for salmon to swim over hydroelectric dams by using a pressurized tube to suck the fish in, then release them at the top of the dam.
Whooshh Director of Market Development Mike Messina says that current fish ladders are ineffective, outdated, and stressful for the fish, which is why the company began looking for an alternative a few years ago. Fish ladders can take more than a day or two to climb, whereas the frictionless tube allows fish to move 25 feet per second before being released.
“We do introduce a little bit of water to keep them moist and keep their gills moist and all those kinds of things for the few seconds it takes them to get through the systems,” said Mike Dearan, Whooshh’s chief engineer.
Whooshh has calculated that if there was a constant supply of fish, some 86,000 salmon could move through a single Whooshh system every day. The technology has sorting capabilities for wild and hatchery fish, and comes equipped with a camera to photograph the salmon coming through. Additionally, it has a scanner for blocking and removing invasive species from entering the tube. The Whooshh system can also be put together in less than a month, while traditional fish ladders may take years to build, the company said.
The system would be 80 percent less expensive than traditional fish ladders and would save Washington state taxpayers USD 24 million (EUR 21.3 million) annually if it were used at eight dams along the state’s Columbia River, according to Whooshh Innovations.
The company’s first system is being researched at Chief Joseph Dam on the Columbia River near Bridgeport, Washington, which does not have a fish ladder.
Image courtesy of Whooshh Innovations
