Vacuum pressure may someday pull salmon over dams

The vacuum system being tested at the Roza Dam has the potential to move fish significant distances, and some believe the technology could be used to move live fish even over some of the region’s largest dams that lack fish passage, such as Grand Coulee.

How fast can a coho go?

With experimental new fish-passage technology being tested at the Roza Dam collection facility, the fish can easily break 10 mph, zipping 40 feet in just a couple of seconds.

Using vacuum pressure — a flexible sleeve and gentle suction — a live fish can be safely whisked across the room and into a tank of water.

The 40-foot-long tube at Roza, 10 miles north of the city of Yakima, is part of a pilot project that will allow Yakama Nation fish biologists to study whether the transport causes any long-term problems for the fish.

“We’re trying to provide a cost-effective way to .... http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2022505599_fishpassagexml.html