Mark A. Weiland

The Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System: A New Tool

Abstract Limitations of biotelemetry technology available in 2001 prompted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Portland District to develop a new acoustic telemetry system to monitor survival of juvenile salmonids through the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. Eight years later, the Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) consists of microacoustic transmitters (12 mm long, 0.43 g weight in air), autonomous and cabled receiving systems, and data management and processing applications. Transmitter pulse rate can be user-defined and as configured for this case study was set at 5 seconds, with an estimated tag life of 30 days and detection range of 300 m. Before JSATS development, no technology existed to study movement and survival of fish smaller than 10 g migrating long distances from freshwater and into saltwater. In a 2008 study comparing detection probabilities, travel times, and survival of 4,140 JSATS-tagged and 48,433 passive integrated transponder (PIT)-tagged yearling Chinook salmon (Oncor...

A Cabled Acoustic Telemetry System for Detecting and Tracking Juvenile Salmon: Part 1. Engineering Design and Instrumentation

In 2001 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District (OR, USA), started developing the Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System, a nonproprietary sensing technology, to meet the needs for monitoring the survival of juvenile salmonids through eight large hydroelectric facilities within the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS). Initial development focused on coded acoustic microtransmitters and autonomous receivers that could be deployed in open reaches of the river for detection of the juvenile salmonids implanted with microtransmitters as they passed the autonomous receiver arrays. In 2006, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory began the development of an acoustic receiver system for deployment at hydropower facilities (cabled receiver) for detecting fish tagged with microtransmitters as well as tracking them in two or three dimensions for determining route of passage and behavior as the fish passed at the facility. The additional information on route of passage, combined with survival estimates, is used by the dam operators and managers to make structural and operational changes at the hydropower facilities to improve survival of fish as they pass the facilities through the FCRPS.

A Cabled Acoustic Telemetry System for Detecting and Tracking Juvenile Salmon: Part 2. Three-Dimensional Tracking and Passage Outcomes

In Part 1 of this paper, we presented the engineering design and instrumentation of the Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) cabled system, a nonproprietary sensing technology developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District (Oregon, USA) to meet the needs for monitoring the survival of juvenile salmonids through the hydroelectric facilities within the Federal Columbia River Power System. Here in Part 2, we describe how the JSATS cabled system was employed as a reference sensor network for detecting and tracking juvenile salmon. Time-of-arrival data for valid detections on four hydrophones were used to solve for the three-dimensional (3D) position of fish surgically implanted with JSATS acoustic transmitters. Validation tests demonstrated high accuracy of 3D tracking up to 100 m upstream from the John Day Dam spillway. The along-dam component, used for assigning the route of fish passage, had the highest accuracy; the median errors ranged from 0.02 to 0.22 m, and root mean square errors ranged from 0.07 to 0.56 m at distances up to 100 m. For the 2008 case study at John Day Dam, the range for 3D tracking was more than 100 m upstream of the dam face where hydrophones were deployed, and detection and tracking probabilities of fish tagged with JSATS acoustic transmitters were higher than 98%. JSATS cabled systems have been successfully deployed on several major dams to acquire information for salmon protection and for development of more “fish-friendly” hydroelectric facilities.

Design and Instrumentation of a Measurement and Calibration System for an Acoustic Telemetry System

The Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) is an active sensing technology developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District, for detecting and tracking small fish. It is used primarily for evaluating behavior and survival of juvenile salmonids migrating through the Federal Columbia River Power System to the Pacific Ocean. It provides critical data for salmon protection and development of more “fish-friendly” hydroelectric facilities. The objective of this study was to design and build a Measurement and Calibration System (MCS) for evaluating the JSATS components, because the JSATS requires comprehensive acceptance and performance testing in a controlled environment before it is deployed in the field. The MCS consists of a reference transducer, a water test tank lined with anechoic material, a motion control unit, a reference receiver, a signal conditioner and amplifier unit, a data acquisition board, MATLAB control and analysis interface, and a computer. The fully integrated MCS has been evaluated successfully at various simulated distances and using different encoded signals at frequencies within the bandwidth of the JSATS transmitter. The MCS provides accurate acoustic mapping capability in a controlled environment and automates the process that allows real-time measurements and evaluation of the piezoelectric transducers, sensors, or the acoustic fields. The MCS has been in use since 2009 for acceptance and performance testing of, and further improvements to, the JSATS.

A cabled acoustic telemetry system for detecting and tracking juvenile salmon.

The juvenile salmon acoustic telemetry system (JSATS) is a nonproprietary technology developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District for detecting and tracking small fish. The JSATS consists of acoustic microtransmitters; autonomous, cabled, or portable receivers with hydrophones; and data management and processing applications. Each microtransmitter, surgically implanted in fish, transmits a unique 31‐bit binary code encoded using BPSK at 416.7 kHz. Cabled systems are deployed at dams and used to determine passage‐route and near‐dam behavior for fish. Each cabled system is synchronized to a universal GPS clock and waveforms are saved to the computer before being decoded. Valid detections are separated from spurious detections using filtering processes requiring a minimum of six messages with a pulse interval matching that expected from properly functioning tags within a fixed period. Time‐of‐arrival information for valid detections on four hydrophones is used to solve for the 3‐D positio...

Acoustic Telemetry Evaluation of Juvenile Salmonid Passage and Survival at John Day Dam with Emphasis on the Prototype Surface Flow Outlet, 2008

The main purpose of the study was to evaluate the performance of Top Spill Weirs installed at two spillbays at John Day Dam and evaluate the effectiveness of these surface flow outlets at attracting juvenile salmon away from the powerhouse and reducing turbine passage. The Juvenile Salmonid Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) was used to estimate survival of juvenile salmonids passing the dam and also for calculating performance metrics used to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the dam at passing juvenile salmonids.

An injectable acoustic transmitter for juvenile salmon

Salmon recovery and the potential detrimental effects of dams on fish have been attracting national attention due to the environmental and economic implications. In recent years acoustic telemetry has been the primary method for studying salmon passage. However, the size of the existing transmitters limits the minimum size of fish that can be studied, introducing a bias to the study results. We developed the first acoustic fish transmitter that can be implanted by injection instead of surgery. The new injectable transmitter lasts four times longer and weighs 30% less than other transmitters. Because the new transmitter costs significantly less to use and may substantially reduce adverse effects of implantation and tag burden, it will allow for study of migration behavior and survival of species and sizes of fish that have never been studied before. The new technology will lead to critical information needed for salmon recovery and the development of fish-friendly hydroelectric systems.

Assessment of Subyearling Chinook Salmon Survival through the Federal Hydropower Projects in the Main-Stem Columbia River

AbstractHigh survival through hydropower projects is an essential element in the recovery of Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. populations in the Columbia River. High dam passage survival is also a regulatory requirement under the 2008 Biological Opinion (BiOp; established under the Endangered Species Act) on Federal Columbia River Power System operation. The BiOp requires dam passage survival to be at least 0.96 and at least 0.93 for spring and summer out-migrating juvenile salmonids, respectively, and to be estimated with an SE of 0.015 or lower. An innovative virtual/paired-release design was used to estimate dam passage survival, which was defined as survival from the upstream face of a dam to the tailrace mixing zone. A coordinated four-dam study was conducted during the 2012 summer out-migration using 14,026 subyearling Chinook Salmon O. tshawytscha out-migrants with surgically implanted acoustic micro-transmitter tags. The release–recapture design consisted of 9 different release locations and 14 di...

Acoustic Telemetry Studies of Juvenile Chinook Salmon Survival at the Lower Columbia Projects in 2006

The Portland District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contracted with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to conduct three studies using acoustic telemetry to estimate detection probabilities and survival of juvenile Chinook salmon at three hydropower projects on the lower Columbia River. The primary goals were to estimate detection and survival probabilities based on sampling with JSATS equipment, assess the feasibility of using JSATS for survival studies, and estimate sample sizes needed to obtain a desired level of precision in future studies. The 2006 JSATS arrays usually performed as well or better than radio telemetry arrays in the JDA and TDA tailwaters, and underperformed radio arrays in the BON tailwater, particularly in spring. Most of the probabilities of detection on at least one of all arrays in a tailwater exceeded 80% for each method, which was sufficient to provide confidence in survival estimates. The probability of detection on one of three arrays includes survival and detection probabilities because fish may die or pass all three arrays undetected but alive.

Evaluation of the Fish Passage Effectiveness of the Bonneville I Prototype Surface Collector using Three-Dimensional Ultrasonic Fish Tracking

This report describes tests conducted at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River in the spring of 2000 using three-dimensional acoustic telemetry and computational fluid dynamics hydraulic modeling to observe the response of outmigrating juvenile steelhead and yearling chinook to a prototype surface collector installed at the Powerhouse. The study described in this report was one of several conducted for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prepare a decision document on which of two bypass methods: surface flow bypass or extended-length submersible bar screens to use to help smolts pass around Bonneville dams without going through the turbines.