There's a new way to safely watch and count endangered fish species like salmon and steelhead on the North Fork of the Santiam River.

The best part is that the fish never know that they're on TV!

KGW's Outdoor Reporter, Grant McOmie, recently visited the remote location where technology is improving salmon's chances at survival.

WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION

As far back as anyone can remember, Bennett Dam, on the North Fork of the Santiam River, has harmed more salmon that it has ever helped.

Steve Mamoyac, a biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, told KGW how the poor condition of the dam's adjacent fish ladder hampered the fish:

"We'd come in each day, get down in the fish ladder next to the dam with our nets and muscle power. Basically, we'd identify them by species and then chase them around and catch them. It was labor intensive, hard on the fish and left a whole lot to be desired."

The Bennett Dam fish ladder was old, the concrete was crumbling and in 2006 it was time for it to go.

Today, it is a much different, and a much easier system on the adult fish that swim around Bennett Dam.

The City of Salem and ODFW paid $2.2 million for the new fish passage system.

Today, Mamoyac calls it a "freeway for fish" by comparison to the old:

"This type of structure is absolutely critical to the health and welfare of the fish that use the upper Santiam River basin."

But, until recently, the new ladder had a serious drawback!

Since the Santiam River's spring Chinook and winter steelhead runs are protected under the Endangered Species Act, each fish of each species must be counted and identified.

Steve's solution to the problem sounded simple enough - but it required planning, money and no small amount of ingenuity.

He put the fish on TV!

It's a high tech solution to an age-old fish management problem of how to count the fish without handling and stressing them with too much physical contact.

His plan required a camera, lights and a digital recorder.

The equipment that Mamoyac assembled at the fish ladder provided a unique installation challenge last spring.

After all, the watertight steel chamber weighed 5,000 pounds and required a crane and a crew to hoist and push into position inside the fish ladder.

It is all powered by deep-cell marine type batteries that are charged by a propane generator - a perfect combination of gear for use in a remote location in the middle of nowhere.

Now, Mamoyac can count and identify the salmon on site or in his office, 80 miles away in Salem, with a simple keystroke.

"The digital recorder is special. It eliminates all of the dead space, so what we're left with are just images of fish and each one with its own unique time stamp too."

Consider it a salmon mug shot - but these fish are free to go and there's more:

"Ideally, if we could make it available to the public through the Internet," noted Mamoyac, "and offer it to people to watch in real time. Wow! That would be the ultimate!"

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