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Coho salmon. (California Department of Fish and Wildlife)

Although salmon in Oregon has dried up due to drought, so much so that the governor is seeking federal relief for fishermen, there is still a glimmer of hope in the upper reaches of the Clarkmas River.

By November 9th of this season, the number of adult, precocious coho salmon returning to the Upper Clarkmas River hit a record high. 9,000 fish passed the Beicha Dam, which is the highest record since the dam was completed in 1958 and began to collect records.

Portland General Electric, which owns and operates the dam, said that more and more salmon are returning because the utility company increased the number of juvenile salmon to enter the ocean through the dam.

Garth Wyatt, a senior fish biologist at PGE, said: "The survival rate through the bypass pipeline is about 99%, and the collection rate is the highest in the region, or even the highest in the world." "Using our new facility, young coho The time required to pass the dam has been reduced from as much as 12 days to only two and a half hours."

This is because of new innovations in the dam, especially the floating surface collector of the Beicha Reservoir “caught more than 90% of the pelagic juvenile fish in the reservoir”. The system relies on a pipeline to allow fish to pass through the dam, rather than using transportation or trucks like other dams in the area.

A Portland General Electric press release said: "This allows cod to reach the Lower Willamette River early in the spring, increasing their presence in the ocean when the water temperature is low and predators are less active. The odds of survival."

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