The FERC License for Conowingo requires Exelon to trap and transport American shad and river herring from the West Fish Lift and East Fish Lift.  The transport mechanism for the East Fish Lift was removed in the 1990s when volitional passage was instituted.  Exelon is working with Whoosh Innovations, Inc. to pilot a transport system from the East Fish Lift to the west bank and allow for trap and transport from the East Fish Lift for the first time since 1996.  The first phase of the contract requires Whooshh to use its novel migrator tubes to deliver shad over 900 feet from the fish lift on the West side of the river to the East side of the river as soon as October 2021.  Non-native Gizzard shad are still present in the rivers at this time of the year and will be used as surrogate test subjects for American shad.  The primary purpose of Phase 1 is to provide data and feedback to the parties and regulatory agencies prior to a decision to install another system the following spring when the larger native American shad return to the Conowingo River to spawn upstream.  

“From the time of our founding father George Washington, American shad were a symbol of this nations bounty and are an important species for the East coasts ecosystem. We are excited to use our modular system, originally developed to help migrating salmon past barriers, for another iconic fish species, this time in Maryland.” said Whooshh Innovations CEO Vincent Bryan III. There are numerous dams on the East coast that are planning to improve fish passage for shad in the coming months and years, and this project will provide all operators an excellent reference project to advance those plans. 

The 572 MW powerhouse for the Conowingo dam sits at 94-feet tall and the shad will glide more than 900-feet across the river. It will be the second longest Whooshh system deployed to date. The longest system was in Washington state at 1700 feet and the highest system to date ascended more than 235 feet. For more information about Whooshh Innovations, please email press@whooshh.com

Whooshh Innovations is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and provides environmental services using its proprietary technologies. Our fish handling and fish passage systems are deployed in N. America, Europe, and Asia. Our solutions have been used to autonomously transport fish in processing plants where hygiene is critical and water is expensive, commercial aquaculture where fish welfare is paramount, and importantly for fish sorting and fish passage over dams and barriers (including where many fish are invasive and/or listed as threatened or endangered.) The Company is currently open to new investors, whether large or small at: www.startengine.com/whooshh. See how we SAVE the fish, FEED the planet, GROW clean energy.