Each year during the final weeks of February, IDFG crews install a fish trap on the Snake River between Lewiston, ID and Clarkston, WA. The 90-foot trap is tethered to the Interstate Bridge, also known as “The Blue Bridge.” Assembling the trap takes about one week. Click on the video below to see the process.
The large wings of the trap are outfitted with screens to direct fish towards the back of the trap where they are collected. Migrating juvenile Chinook salmon and steelhead trout, known as smolts, are "dipped” out of the river by the trap during March through May. Once collected, some of the fish receive a unique mark known as a PIT-tag that allows biologists and others to monitor their journey to and from the ocean.
This trap has provided valuable information since 1983 and is one of the longest running fish tagging sites in the state. Data from the site allows resource managers to better understand salmon and steelhead movement and survival. In turn, managers develop strategies to enhance their success each year.
For more information on wild salmon and steelhead projects visit the IDFG Wild Salmon and Steelhead Webpage.