Background

PIT tags have been used since 1985 for research and monitoring of anadromous
fish resources in the Columbia River Basin (CRB). In 1987, federal and state
biologists began marking production lots of hatchery Chinook and steelhead,
augmenting (and ultimately replacing) the established freeze-brand marking
program. In 1988, federal, state, and tribal biologists expanded their research
programs to include the PIT tag marking of juvenile wild salmon and steelhead.
In the Columbia River Basin, juvenile salmonids are injected with PIT tags,
released, and then passively interrogated as they pass through bypass/collection
fish facilities located at hydroelectric dams on the Snake and Columbia Rivers.
The salmon then remain in the ocean for 1-4 years before returning to their
original breeding grounds. During their homeward migration they must ascend a
number of fish ladders located throughout the Columbia River Basin.
In 2000, the Basin completed a process to upgrade the region’s PIT tag
interrogation system to International Standards Organization’s 11784 and 11785
(ISO FDX-B) specifications. One of the benefits of changing to this technology,
was the potential to increase the read range of the tag, and detect fish at fish
ladders. This was not possible with the PIT-tag systems used prior to 2000.
Most of the dams at the FCRPS projects have fish ladders. The ladders are of a
weir and pool design. The weir walls have one or two orifices typically located
near the bottom of the weir and close to the ladder walls. In addition, each weir
has a complete or partial overflow. In 2001/02, orifice-based PIT-tag detection
systems were installed at all fish ladders at Bonneville and Lower Monumental
Dams.
By 2003, technology had improved sufficiently to install larger PIT-tag antennas
into fish counting windows or vertical slots. These are superior to the orificebased
systems because every fish must pass through these antennas in order to
transit the ladder. This lead to more detection systems being installed at Ice
Harbor and Lower Granite Dams in 2004 and to improvements being installed at
the Bonneville and Lower Monumental Dams in 2005 and 2006.
The fisheries community needs to install additional systems capable of detecting
migrating juvenile and adult salmonids to aid in evaluating restoration strategies.
That need is reflected in NMFS Biological Opinions that require data generated
from the adult interrogation system to support investigations that address: 1)
Smolt-to-adult return rates (SAR) information (to answer such questions as
whether there is any survival differences between transported juveniles and
those that migrated in-river); 2) conversion rates between dams (to track losses
of fish between dams, straying rates and routes; 3) estimations of travel time
between dams; and 4) fall-back rates for different fish ladders.
Furthermore, the addition of the full-flow systems at Ice Harbor (2006) and ones
planned for Lower Monumental and John Day Dams will improve reach estimates
for the different ESA-listed populations during their juvenile outmigrations. These
potential extra data collection points are critical now that the fish managers are
bypassing more fish via the dam spillways to improve survival of salmonids
migrating through the federally operated hydroelectric dams within the Columbia
River Basin. Therefore, we need to detect all of the tagged fish when they do go
through the bypass facilities. The full-flow systems give the fish managers the
option of getting those detections, but still passing the juvenile salmonids in
larger volumes of water.
This work statement provides for additional labor and equipment for the final
installation of the adult PIT tag interrogation systems at the Bradford Island Fish
Ladder at John Day Dam and the Washington Shore Counting Window at Lower
Monumental Dam.
Since 1990, the PTAGIS project has performed system installations and
operations and maintenance of PIT tag interrogation systems in the Columbia
River Basin as part of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s (NPCC)
Fish and Wildlife Program (FWP). PTAGIS project staff is uniquely qualified to
provide installation resources for adult PIT tag interrogation systems and
integrate the raw data into the PTAGIS data system.

Activity and Project Description

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and it’s contractors will installing fishway
infrastructure to support the interrogation of PIT tagged fish through extended
range, full flow bypass systems at John Day Dam and Lower Monumental Dam
during fiscal year 2007.
Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission will perform tasks to complete the
installation of electronic instrumentation and data systems which are necessary
to provide raw PIT detection information to the Columbia Basin PIT Tag
Information System (PTAGIS) at both locations. Due to funding limitations, the
labor component of this project will be born by PTAGIS (FWP 199008000), and
this contract will fund the equipment required for the installation.

Scope of Work: Full Flow Installation at John Day and Lower Monumental Dam

Perform final installation and configuration of government supplied PIT tag
transceiver and antenna systems at the John Day and Lower Monumental Dams.
Activities (or “Work Elements”) include:
1. Project Management and Administration;
2. Coordinating with USACE and it’s contractors, NOAA Fisheries and
Bonneville Power Administration and it’s contractors;
3. Installation of Fish Monitoring Equipment;
4. Submit / Acquire Data;
5. Disseminate Raw / Summary Data via PTAGIS web site;
6. Status and Annual Reporting as required.
There are no known “Environmental Compliance” requirements for this project.