Much like salmon, spawning adult shad play a vital ecological role and are capable of migrating hundreds of miles upstream.  This will be our third installation where shad were the primary target species.  

The technology functions by allowing fish entering the Passage Portal™ volitionally, swimming up the steeppass entry component where they are subsequently imaged and sorted. Native species of a size aligned with the installed migrator tubes will undergo a gentle slide through the migrator tube to the forebay above the dam. Other species will simply slide down the bypass chute back to the river. 

Alden Laboratories will be conducting a biological study to assess efficacy for shad, a final step in agency acceptance of the technology for use with this very sensitive species. 

Thanks to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) for funding the project.  EPRI is an industry leader working to modernize hydropower. Their work improving the efficiency and sustainability of one of the most relied upon renewable energy sources is more important now than ever. EPRI is supported by many power producers such as New Brunswick Power, FirstLight Power, NYPA, and Santee Cooper. 

More than 200 hydropower operators on the East Coast are facing FERC relicensing requirements, which require them to implement fish passage solutions. American shad are a species of interest at many of these sites.  

This is an exciting time for the rehabilitation and restoration of native fish populations, and we are thrilled to be collaborating with EPRI in taking another step towards a more fish friendly hydropower future.