I’ve never seen a salmon cannon before…
There’re all sorts of cool methods that are used for the management of different fish species. We’ve seen fish waterslides and fish being dropped from helicopters and airplanes. But, the salmon cannon is a new one.
Stocking fish and growing fish at a hatchery is a method now commonly used to help struggling fish populations. The idea is to raise strong healthy fish in captivity to give them a better chance of survival when released at a more mature age into the wild.
It’s a method that works to a degree but still comes with its fair share of controversy.
As good as they are these days with fish hatcheries and the information on fish genetics, the hatcheries just aren’t the same as when a fish is born and raised in the wild. This slightly alters the genetics of the fish and pose some issues to wild fish populations whose genetics are highly important.
Protecting spawning grounds for wild populations is one of the best ways to protect their populations and genetics.
The salmon cannon was created to help remove hatchery fish from the wild spawning grounds. It is pressurized to make the fish feel like its still in a waterway as it gets sucked into a truck to be transported to a different location away from the spawning location.
The video shows fish and Washington wildlife officials collecting salmon caught in their weir and placing them into the salmon cannon shooting them up hill and into the truck.
That’s some pretty cool technology and a job I certainly would not mind doing.
