Here's our proof.
Here is the collection of all the studies done using Whooshh, so you can see our impact for yourself.
2011 Physiological Response Study
Question: How do the physiological responses compare between groups of hatchery adult rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss after traveling through an early prototype of the Whooshh Fish Transport System (WFTS) or by trap and haul transport?
Conclusion: The results indicated that fish that were passed through the Whooshh Fish Transport System were not severely stressed or injured from the Whooshh tube experience when compared to trout that were transported by trap and haul.
Lab: USGS Columbia River Research Laboratory
Contact: Matt Mesa & Steve Waste
Species: Rainbow Trout
Published Study Results: PDF
2014 WDFW Hatchery Steelhead Transport Demonstration Study
Question: Is it possible to safely transport hatchery steelhead 250 ft through the Whooshh fish transport system?
Conclusion: Yes. Hatchery steelhead were transported ~250 ft in an average of ~13 seconds. All steelhead exiting the tube immediately swam away in a direction of their own choosing.
Study Report: PDF (Kalama Falls doc)
Lab: Kalama Falls Hatchery
Contact: WDFW
Species: Hatchery Steelhead
2014 Epithelial Injury Study
Question: Do fall Chinook salmon travelling through a 40' or a 250' Whooshh fish transport system incur epithelial injury?
Conclusion: No. Fish passing through the Whooshh tube incur no epithelial damage as indices of epithelial injury suggest that no differences could be distinguished between Whooshh transported, trap and haul transported and control-net handled fish.
Lab: PNNL
Contact: Alison Colotelo/David Geist
Species: Fall Chinook
Study Results: PDF
Additional Study Info: PDF
Slides: PDF
2014 Eyed Egg Viability Study
Question: Is the percentage of viable eggs collected and fertilized from a group of Chinook transported by the Whooshh system equivalent to the percentage of viable eggs collected and fertilized from a group of hand-carried Chinook?
Conclusion: Yes. Egg viability percentages were very high and were statistically equivalent between the groups of fish transported by the hand-carry and the Whooshh system methods.
Lab: Yakama Nation - Cle Elum Hatchery
Contact: David Fast
Species: Spring Chinook
Study Results: PDF
Additional Study Data: PDF
2014 Broodstock Survival Study
Question: Is the survival rate of hand carried Chinook broodstock comparable to the survival rate of Whooshh transported Chinook broodstock at Roza dam on the Yakima River?
Conclusion: Yes, in fact in this 2014 study the survival rate of Whooshh transported Chinook broodstock was better than that of the hand carried Chinook broodstock. Although the total number of fish transferred was small, the Whooshh fish mortality rate was approximately one-half that of the hand carry transport method.
Lab: Yakama Nation - Cle Elum Hatchery
Contact: David Fast
Species: Spring Chinook
Study Results: PDF
Additional Study Data: PDF
2014 Survival Study
Question: Does transport method affect adult salmon survival: comparative study evaluating fall Chinook salmon travelling through a 40' or 250' Whooshh Fish Transport System, trap and haul transport and control fish?
Conclusion: No, transport methods evaluated had no impact on adult salmon survival. No significant differences in survival rates were detected between the transport study groups.
Lab: PNNL
Contact: Alison Colotelo/David Geist
Species: Fall Chinook
Study Results: PDF
Additional Study Info: PDF
2014 Voluntary Entry Study
Question: What is the feasibility of having salmon voluntarily enter the Whooshh system without the assistance of human handling?
Conclusion: Yes, it is feasible, adult salmon ascended a steep pass and descended down a flume. They entered into a V notch head first and then glided into the Whooshh tube entry and passed safely and successfully through the WFTS into the holding tank.
Lab: Yakama Nation - Cle Elum Hatchery
Contact: David Fast
Species: Spring Chinook
Study Results: PDF
2014 Physiological Stress Study
Question: Do fall Chinook salmon travelling through a 40' or a 250' Whooshh fish transport system incur additional physiological stress compared to the trap and haul transport or control-net transport fish?
Conclusion: No. There was no significant difference in elevated immune response levels among the study groups measured 2-3 days post-transport. Additionally, there was no indication of a difference in female cortisol levels, as an indicator of stress, attributable to the Whooshh Fish Transport System experience.
Lab: PNNL
Contact: Alison Colotelo/David Geist
Species: Fall Chinook
Study Results: PDF
Additional Study Info: PDF
2014 Gamete Survival Study
Question: Is gamete survival of fall Chinook salmon affected by adult transport through a 40' or a 250' Whooshh fish transport system prior to spawning relative to trap and haul transported and control-net handled fish?
Conclusion: No. Survival of gametes to the eyed egg stage, an indicator of whether survival of offspring is successful or compromised, was not significantly different among the four study groups.
Lab: PNNL
Contact: Alison Colotelo/David Geist
Species: Fall Chinook
Study Results: PDF
Additional Study Info: PDF
2014 Reproductive Readiness Study
Question: Is reproductive readiness of adult fall Chinook salmon affected by transport travel through a 40' or a 250' Whooshh fish transport system as compared to transport travel via a trap and haul or control-net handled?
Conclusion: No. There was no indication that transport method had any effect on reproductive readiness. Female fish plasma vitellogenin concentrations for the female fish that were transported through the Whooshh system or via trap and haul were similar to the control group.
Lab: PNNL
Contact: Alison Colotelo/David Geist
Species: Fall Chinook
Study Results: PDF
Additional Study Info: PDF
2015 G Force Study
Question: Will fish experience any extraordinary, potentially harmful, G forces when travelling through the Whooshh fish transport system?
Conclusion: No. The instantaneous G forces experienced by fish going through the Whooshh system are overall quite low. They are less than half the G force a fish experiences when falling back into the water either onto its belly or backwards from a 36 inches height, which is a scenario typically experienced when fish are discharged from a truck in a trap and haul operation or down and out a fish slide where the fish do not re-enter the water head first.
Lab: PNNL
Contact: Zhiqun Deng
Species: N/A - Electronic Sensor
Study Results: PDF
Video: MOV
Other reference study 1: PDF
Other reference study 2: PDF
2014-2015 Year 2 Spring Chinook Adult Passage Viability Study
Question: Are the spring Chinook adult survival, productive spawning and egg viability data of Whooshh transported verses hand and haul transport reproducible?
Conclusion: Yes. Although 2015 was an exceptionally hot year, the comparative results between Whooshh transport and hand and haul of 2014 were reproduced in 2015.
Lab: Yakima Nation Fisheries
Contact: Mark Johnston
Species: Spring Chinook
Study Report: PDF
2015 Volitional Entry Study
Question: Can Whooshh demonstrate volitional entry and effective transport of pink salmon through the Whooshh fish transport system?
Conclusion: Yes. 500 pink salmon, on their own volition, swam into the Whooshh fish transport system position downstream of Buckley dam on the White River and were safely transported to a tank on a transport truck.
Lab: Puyallup and Muckleshoot Indian Tribes
Contact: Justin Paul
Species: Pink salmon
Study Report: PDF
Videos:
1. MOV
2. MOV
2015 Transport Viability Study
Question: Do live adult Atlantic salmon safely travel through the Whooshh system when oriented to enter either head first or trail first?
Conclusion: Yes. The Whooshh system successfully transported all fish whether facing forward or backward. There was no statistical difference between fish transported in the Whooshh system related to fish entry orientation.
Lab: Conservation Fund Fresh Water Institute
Contact: Steve Summerfelt
Species: Atlantic Salmon
Study Results: PDF
Video: MOV
2015 Sturgeon Transit Study
Question: Will Lake Sturgeon safely transport through the Whooshh fish transport system?
Conclusion: Yes. There was no indication of external injury to study fish caused by passage through the Whooshh Fish Transport System. No mortalities occurred in the study: Whooshh and control transport groups. These results support the potential of the Whooshh system as a viable method for sturgeon passage upstream or downstream at dams.
Lab: Alden Research Laboratory Inc.
Contact: Steve Amaral
Species: Lake Sturgeon
Study Abstract: PDF
Video: Not Yet Available
Study: PDF: Presented at Fish Passage 2016 International Conference on River Connectivity
2016 Whooshh Passage
Question: Is it feasible to safely, efficiently and effectively transport salmon 1,100 ft distance with a 100 ft elevation via the Whooshh Fish Transport System?
Conclusion: Yes. In the summer of 2016 58 late spring summer Chinook were transported via WFTS 1,100 ft with a100 ft elevation in ~35 seconds with controlled deceleration into a hatchery truck. The fish were hauled to Cle Elum hatchery and observed for adult survival until ripe for harvest (1-3 months )and egg viability. Comparisons of adult survival and egg viability were drawn between the 1,100 ft WFTS Chinook and ~85 ft hand carriage or 40 ft Chinook groups. No difference in adult survival or egg viability was observed between the groups.
Study Report: PDF (Roza Yr 3 document)
Lab: Yakama Nation
Contact: Dave Fast, Mark Johnson, Bill Bosch
Species: SpringChinook
Videos: USBR MOV
Whooshh MOV
3 Year Study Comparison including 1 Year High Head Dam Transport Simulation
Question: Does fish transport through either a 40' or an 1100' long and nearly 100' high Whooshh Fish Transport System significantly affect adult survival, reproduction or egg viability outcomes?
Conclusion: No. There was no significant difference in survival of Chinook salmon held up to four months after travelling through the Whooshh tube as compared to the control group - a typical trap and haul operation.
Study Plan: PDF
Lab: Yakama Nation Fisheries
Contact: Dave Fast & Mark Johnston
Species: Chinook
Study Results: PDF
Video: MOV
2016 Migration Study
Question: Does transport of Sockeye through the Whooshh fish transport system measurably affect their upstream migration?
Conclusion: No and Yes. There were no findings of significance affecting migration, homing, or survival. However, the sockeye that passed over the top of the dam through the Whooshh system
Study Plan: PDF
Lab: CRITFC
Contact: Jeff Fryer
Species: Sockeye
Study Results: PDF
Video: MOV
Additional Study Info: PDF
2016 Post WFTS Transport: Adult Survival and Egg Rates Reproducible Across 3 Years
Question: Comparing hand carriage vs 40 ft Whooshhtransport followed by hatchery truck haul are the adult survival and eggviability rates comparatively reproducible? An evaluation of three-years worthof data.
Conclusion: Yes. Although the environmental conditions varied considerably across the three years of study (2014, 2015 and 2016), the impact did not affect the comparative adult survival and rates within a given year.There was no statistical difference in adult survival rates between the hand carriage and 40 ft Whooshh tube transport. Egg viability rates were not influenced by environmental conditions and remained very high, >92% across all groups and years. The outcomes support the conclusion that the WFTS is are liable, durable, viable alternative to the standard hand-walking transport method from the fish safety perspective and provides a reduced risk benefit to the fish of damage due to accidental dropping. From the fish handler perspective, the WFTS is easy to use, fast, may reduce potential fish injury, and adds a measure of safety for the fish handler. The results of this comprehensive comparative study strongly endorses the recommendation of WFTS use for safe transport of live fish.
Study Report: PDF (Roza Yr 3 document)
Lab: Yakama Nation
Contact: Dave Fast,Mark Johnson, Bill Bosch
Species: Spring Chinook
2016 Aquaculture Fish Welfare Study
Question: Does the Whooshh Fish Transport System (WFTS) provide for better fish welfare (less stress on the fish) as compared to aqua pumps or hand carriage handling?
Study Plan: PDF
Conclusion: The WFTS itself does not impose stress, behavior or other welfare concerns on the fish. Attention must be paid to other transfer processes to minimize stress pre-Whooshh transport.
Lab: SINTEF
Contact: Ulf Erikson
Species: Atlantic salmon
Study Results: PDF
Video: MOV
2017 Evaluation of Volitional Entry, Sorting and Passage of Adult Pacific Salmonids Through a Novel Fish Passage Technology
Question: The sorting by species and passage efficiency of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead (O. mykiss) through the WESS-WFTS was assessed.
Conclusion: PNNL found that the WESS-WFTS was able to sort the fish by size, few fish had external injuries, and few unexpected events (e.g. backward transport, discontinuous transport) occurred. PNNL results support the use of the WESS-WFTS as an effective transport system for adult salmonids when used in conjunction with a volitional fishway entrance.
Lab: PNNL
Contact: Alison Colotelo
Species: Chinook, Steelhead
Research Highlights: A Bene-fish-al Solution for Salmon and Steelhead Passage
Study Report: Evaluation of Volitional Entry and Passage of Adult Pacific Salmonids through a Novel
2017 Evaluation of Sockeye Salmon after Passage through an Innovative Upstream Fish-Passage System at a high head dam
Question: Can a Whooshh system safely transport sockeye salmon over a 180' x 1700' high head dam in less than a minute.
Conclusion: Yes, statistical equivalence with a trap and haul control group was achieved within 4 days of operation and optimization using real time adaptive management.
Lab: USGS
Contact: Tobias J. Koch
Species: Sockeye
Study Report: PDF
2017 American Shad: Transport Feasibility Study
Question: Is it feasible to transport American shad via a Whooshh fish transport system? What is the associated passage survival and impact on the epithelium associated with Whooshh passage?
Conclusion: Yes, it is feasible to safely, efficiently and effectively transport via Whooshh fish transport system. Comparing fluorescein dye staining for epithelial injury, it was found that the level of staining was very low indicating very small or limited injury, the patterns being consistent with study-associated fish handling, and no differences were found between the non-transported shad and the WFTS-transported shad. Immediate survival post-WFTS transport was 100% and 24 hour survival of shad was 97.4% excluding the few shad that were injured due to correctable technical setup complications encountered for the temporary installation
Lab: HDR Engineering, Inc
Contact: Michael Sears
Species: American Shad
Study Report: PDF
2017 Evaluation of a Novel Floating Elver Trap
Question: How does a floating elver trap compare to a stationary elver trap?
Conclusion: The floating elver trap caught elver in both dark (night) and light (daytime) hours whereas the stationary trap only caught elver in dark hours. Across three separate trial pairwise comparisons, the floating trap caught significantly more elver (Lagan night Z=" 2.52," p=" 0.012," Lagan day Z="2.81," p="0.005" and Atran night Z="2.81," p="0.005)." The design features of the mobile floating trap with wide and limited length ramps along with directed attraction flow facilitated elver attraction, ramp entry and collection. The floating covered structure also produced a dark shaded environment which likely facilitated collection during daylight hours.
Lab: Karlstad University, Sweden
Principle Investigator: Johan Watz
Species: European juvenile eel (elver), Anguilla anguilla
Study Report: PDF
2018 Innovative Floating Elver Trap
Question: What design features are incorporated into the Elverator, floating elver trap, and how well does it perform?
Conclusion: Floating design, EF-16 climbing substrate, covered, water delivery to climbing substrate, supplemental attraction flow, and collection vessel location, all contribute to a successful design. The Elverator outperformed, in number of elver collected, when compared to a conventional ramp trap in a study on River Lagan, Sweden in 2016 and three conventional pipe traps on River Gota alv, Sweden in 2018. In addition, the Elverator collected a greater range of elver sizes.
Presentation: Joint Annual Meeting of American Eel and Sturgeon hosted by EPRI
Contact: Jonas Elghagen
Species: European juvenile eel (elver), Anguilla anguilla
2018 Test of a New Elver Collector at Lilla Edets Power Station
Question: How well does the new floating collector compare to conventional elver pipe traps at Lilla Edet?
Conclusion: The single floating collector caught 58-65% of the total elver collected during each of the three time periods assessed, the remainder of the elver were caught via a combination of three conventional pipe traps. Thus, the single Elverator trap outperformed three pipe traps. In addition, the Elverator accommodated a greater range in elver sizes, facilitating increased capture and species diversity.
Report: Vattenfall
Contact: Erik Sparrevik and Jonas Elghagen
Species: European juvenile eel (elver), Anguilla anguilla
2019 Whooshh EF-16 , Enhancing Upstream Passage Solutions for Eels
Question: How do three different elver climbing substrates compare?
Conclusion: The stubbed substratum, EF-16 climbing substrate, demonstrated “superior performance” in attracting more elver approaches, initiating more climbs and the elver traveled measurably faster up the studded substratum in contrast to either the bristle or open weave substratum. “To recover endangered migrating species, enhancing the performance of passage solutions at barriers between habitats is a critical factor.”
Lab: Karlstad University, Sweden
Principle Investigator: Johan Watz
Species: European juvenile eel (elver), Anguilla anguilla
Study Results: PDF