Counting Fish

Fall salmon are here and the big run is just starting to heat up and if you live anywhere near one of the major dams in the northwest, you've probably been keeping a pretty close eye on those fish counts. Counting sheep is one thing, but fish counting.. that takes us to a whole new level. Have you ever wondered just exactly how do, they count all those fish. Lucky for you, I was able to get in touch with one of the Biologist from the Fish Passage Center Margaret Filardo, to explain just how it works.

Margaret "So if you go to Bonneville dam or somewhere like that, there's actually a fish counting window and there are people sitting behind those windows and they are counting the fish as they go by. The fish have to come up to the project, and generally those dams are about 100 ft. high so they have fish ladders. So they're basically a series of pools, resting areas and weirs, where the fish go up to the top of the dam. When they are going up to the top, there's a weir that snakes it down. So it becomes very narrow, and the fish go past that area and at that area there's just a window and there's someone sitting behind it and they're actually doing the counting."

If you're wondering just what those numbers are, google them out the Fish Passage Center where you can find plenty of information on fish counts and much more.