In the spring, a fish passage facility on Baker Lake is busy as thousands of juvenile salmon, mostly sockeye, swim into a floating surface collector. After capture, the fish are carefully counted and prepared for transport downstream to the Skagit River.
This fish passage program combined with on-site hatchery production at Puget Sound Energy’s two-dam hydroelectric system on the Baker River has become a shining example for salmon recovery efforts where dams are involved.
The program was developed by Puget Sound Energy (PSE) in coordination with the treaty tribes of the Skagit watershed who co-manage the region’s fisheries. Since its operation, the sockeye population has seen renewed growth, nearing recovery goals in recent years.
“Now we are all the beneficiaries of our collective efforts,” said Fred Cayou, senator of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. “I am so glad to see the record-setting Baker sockeye salmon returns that allow our tribal fishers to exercise their treaty rights, practice our cultural lifeways and feed our tribal community.”
The successful PSE program may serve as a model for other utilities developing fish passage, such as Seattle City Light’s three-dam hydroelectric project on the Skagit River. In pursuit of a renewed license for its dams, Seattle recently agreed to implement fish passage, though the design is yet to be determined.
NWIFC Chairman Ed Johnstone toured PSE’s floating surface collector and nearby hatchery facilities in May. After observing a mix of hatchery and wild fish moving from the lake through the collector and other hatchery fish swimming in the protection of raceways, he noted a dichotomy in the success.
“This is impressive, but unfortunate that it has to be here to begin with,” Johnstone said. “Water is life.”
The dams on the Baker and Skagit rivers block the free flow of water—and fish populations that navigate those flows—so that its force can be converted into electricity.
Above: NWIFC Chairman Ed Johnstone, right, and Swinomish senator Fred Cayou, left, toured a fish passage facility at Baker Lake during the downstream migration of juvenile sockeye salmon in May, observing incoming fish being counted and separated by species. Photos and story by Kimberly Cauvel
