FISH LADDERS

Fish ladders are designed to allow adult salmon and steelhead to migrate past dams to their spawning grounds. I never really understood how fish could get up a ladder. I often pictured them balancing on their tails hopping up the rungs of a ladder. I kind of figured that wasn't really how it worked but I had no idea what to expect. So I did a little research on fish ladders.


The fish ladder at Bonneville Dam is a poor and wier ladder which uses a series of small dams and pools of regular length to crate a long, sloping channel for fish to travel around the dam. To head upstream fish must jump over from pool to pool in the ladder. When they land in the pool they can rest before they fight the current to continue their journey.

The day we were there, not many fish were trying to swim upstream but Jim was able to get this picture of one of the two big fish that we did see.