Harvest Facility Protects and Improves Fishery

By constructing a trap and transfer/harvest facility to control anadromous fish migration, the trout fishery on the Boardman River was protected and the salmon fishery was improved. The James P. Price Fish Trap and Transfer/Harvest Facility at Traverse City, Michigan, was constructed by the Traverse City Light and Power Department because of a licensing condition during the redevelopment of the Boardman and Sabin hydroelectric plants. The facility was constructed along with a fish ladder at the Union Street Dam to control the anadromous fish migration in lieu of constructing fish ladders at the Union Street, Sabin and Boardman Dams. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service required that the fish ladders be constructed before the hydroelectric plants could be reactivated. The MDNR was also planning to introduce salmon into the Boardman River as far up as the reservoir of the Boardman Dam, which is the third dam from the mouth of the river. Local governmental bodies, along with environmental and recreational organizations, saw the plan as destructive to the prime fishery and opposed it. The resulting agreement allows the trout to migrate past the Union Street Dam, which is the first of the three dams on the river, while preventing the salmon from moving past the Sabin Dam which is the second dam. A barrier across the Boardman River prevents anadromous fish from moving trap/transfer/harvest facility. This paper will discuss the design and operation of this unique facility.