Co-Authored by Ben Roll & Devan Reid.
Besides migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead trout, the Snake and Salmon river fish traps can accumulate enormous amounts of large wood during spring runoff. Both trap crews need training so they can safely clear the debris. Ben Roll, one of the crew members, is a certified chainsaw training instructor and provided the necessary course to prepare the crew for clearing the trap of logs when chainsaws are needed. Other important training includes safe operations of boats on the river, how to safely operate the trap under varying weather conditions, and always wearing a life jacket.
This continued to be a slow week for catching fishes. However, the Salmon River trap caught their first wild Chinook salmon smolt of the year. The Snake River trap caught a couple more kokanee salmon and a juvenile smallmouth bass.
Fish and Game and the Fish Passage Center cooperatively operate this fish trap as a key component of the Smolt Monitoring Program and the Comparative Survival Study. More information about these important wild salmon and steelhead trout projects is available at https://www.fpc.org/fpc_homepage.php