Assessing Juvenile Salmonid Passage Through Culverts: Field Research in Support of Protocol Development

Technical Report · Tue Oct 30 04:00:00 EST 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/919726· OSTI ID:919726

Williams, Greg D; Evans, Nathan R; Pearson, Walter H; Southard, John A

The primary goal of our research this spring/ summer was to refine techniques and examine scenarios under which a standardized protocol could be applied to assess juvenile coho salmon (O. kisutch) passage through road culverts. Field evaluations focused on capture-mark- recapture methods that allowed analysis of fish movement patterns, estimates of culvert passability, and potential identification of cues inducing these movements. At this stage, 0+ age coho salmon fry 30 mm to 65 mm long (fork length) were the species and age class of interest. Ultimately, the protocol will provide rapid, statistically rigorous methods for trained personnel to perform standardized biological assessments of culvert passability to a number of juvenile salmon species. Questions to be addressed by the research include the following: ? Do hydraulic structures such as culverts restrict habitat for juvenile salmonids? ? How do existing culverts and retrofits perform relative to juvenile salmonid passage? ? Do some culvert characteristics and hydraulic conditions provide better passage than others? ? Does the culvert represent a barrier to certain size classes of fish? Recommendations addressed issues of study site selection, initial capture, marking, recapture/observations, and estimating movement.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 919726
• Report Number(s): PNNL-13708; WN0219060
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
DUCTS
FISH PASSAGE FACILITIES
HABITAT
JUVENILES
ROADS
SALMON
coho salmon
culverts
fish passage
juvenile salmonids