Fisheries scientists work tirelessly at hydroelectric facilities to understand survival of fish as they exit through turbines and other passage routes and to improve and enhance the upstream passage of fish to reach quality habitat. Reliability of this information is of paramount importance for project owners and state and federal agencies trying to restore and enhance native fish species. This is especially true for migratory fishes, which must navigate around hydroelectric installations in order to complete their life cycle.
Normandeau practices a variety of solutions to meet these challenges.
For more than three decades, Normandeau has used our HI-Z Turb’N Tag™ fish recapture technique to assess the direct effects of downstream passage through hydroelectric dams and other water usage facilities. It’s the most reliable, highly regarded method to assess injury and survival of fish after passage through turbines, spillways, or other bypass structures.
Normandeau can deploy and recapture commercially available sensor fish devices more reliably than any other private firm. These devices can be used to optimize turbine or spillway operations or to prioritize the operation of various passage routes to minimize project impacts to fisheries. They can also be used to estimate injury and survival of fish when live fish experiments are not possible.
Normandeau has extensive experience in the evaluation of upstream and downstream passage effectiveness for multiple diadromous fish species at hydroelectric projects. Our staff has conducted numerous evaluations using radio, acoustic, or PIT telemetry techniques.
Normandeau has half a century of experience assisting hydropower plant operators with upstream fish passage programs to comply with regulatory requirements. Our scientists can operate upstream fish passage facilities to trap and haul live fish to upstream stocking locations, monitor volitional upstream passage facilities, or provide guidance on the design of new fish passage facilities.
Client: Constellation Project Highlights: Maintaining environmental compliance requirements by operating, monitoring, and maintaining upstream...
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