The primary goal of the proposed project is to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of a fish trap installed in the tailrace of Albeni Falls Dam by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians (herein ‘Tribe’).  The Tribe requested the assistance of PNNL to evaluate the trap based on their experience with telemetry monitoring technologies and over a decade of unique experience studying migratory bull trout at Albeni Falls Dam and in the Pend Oreille River system.  The trap will be primarily designed to capture migrating bull trout Salvelinus confluentus and westslope cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi, which will then be manually transported above Albeni Falls Dam by the Tribe as a means of temporary passage until a more permanent fish passage structure is built.  
A secondary goal is to continue operation of previously installed telemetry equipment downstream of Albeni Falls Dam that are being used to evaluate use of coldwater refuges of bull trout; refuges that are necessary for fish entrained downstream of AFD to survive high summer water temperatures.

PNNL has two objectives for the May 2017 - April 2018 contract period:

1) Determine the movement behavior of tagged fish within the tailrace of Albeni Falls Dam and whether they enter the fish trap, or come in close proximity of the trap but do not enter it.
2) Continue radio telemetry system monitoring downstream of Albeni Falls Dam in the Pend Oreille River to identify bull trout use of coldwater refuge habitat.