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Home My WebLink About042423 Hood Canal Bridge Assessment - Update on Spring Activities________________________________ ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them. ________________________________ Dear Management Committee, The assessment of the Hood Canal Bridge fish guidance structure is underway, and we wanted to update the Management Committee on several aspects of the HCB Assessment activities this spring. Fish Guidance Structure (‘fillet’): the fillet construction was completed on time and the fillet was craned into the water in Seattle on March 29th. The fillet will be tested for six weeks at the southeast end of the bridge with week-long deployments every other week. The first deployment was Monday, April 10th. The fillet will be deployed and retrieved via tugboat on a regular schedule unless an unscheduled removal is required due to high winds. The schedule for fillet deployment is as follows: * April 10th – 14tth – Deployed at Bridge (treatment) – the fillet was retrieved a couple days early as a change to the mooring connection was needed. * April 14th – 21st – Moored at Port Ludlow Marina (control) * April 21st – May 1st - Deployed at Bridge * May 1st – May 8th – Moored at Port Ludlow Marina * May 8th – May 15th - Deployed at Bridge Assessment Activities: The two main assessment approaches are consistent with the Phase 1 research. Megan Moore (NOAA Fisheries) is using acoustic telemetry to estimate the difference in travel time and survival of juvenile steelhead past the bridge with and without the fillet in place. She will also be able to look at other behaviors like crossing location or spatial distribution. She has been releasing tagged fish each week starting in late March, so that they will pass the bridge throughout the testing period. There have been low numbers of fish so far at Big Beef Creek, so most of the steelhead tagged to date have been from Tacoma Power’s North Fork Skokomish Salmon Hatchery. Hans Daubenberger (Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe) is using visual acoustics data collection (BlueView Multibeam Imaging Sonar), predator behavior surveys, and underwater video collection to assess fish and predator presence and behavior during treatment and control replicates. The BlueView has been recording since early April. It will be aimed at the face of the fillet when the fillet is in place, and at the empty corner created by the pontoons (where the fillet would be), when the fillet is absent. Pinniped Deterrence at the HCB: in 2022 the Assessment Team recommended testing a non-lethal, pinniped deterrence device at the bridge intended to reduce harbor seal foraging. Due to the high cost of the first fillet, we were only able to construct one fillet in 2023, and there were some remaining state funds. LLTK is using some of these funds, in collaboration with WDFW to leverage additional EPA funds, to support the efficacy testing of a non-lethal deterrent device at the bridge immediately following the fillet testing in May and June. LLTK and WDFW released a Request for Qualifications and Quotations (RFQQ) in February, and Oceans Initiative was awarded a contract to test a Targeted Acoustic Startle Technology (TAST) device starting in May. Testing will include BlueView monitoring by Hans (PGST). By testing both the physical structure (‘fillet’) and the acoustic deterrent device, we may be able to develop a strategy that addresses the problem from both angles - improving fish passage and reducing seal foraging near the bridge. Potential New State Funding: Current funds are only allocated through the end of the state fiscal year, and new funds must be acquired by June 2023. Funding to support the construction of a second fillet and another year of testing the fillets was included this past weekend in the State’s conference budget. This is good news, and we are hopeful that we can report next month that we have secured funding for 2024. Recent Media Mentions: * Press Release: https://lltk.org/for-immediate-release-innovative-fish-passage-project-hopes-to-guide-salmon-and-steelhead-to-survival-at-the-hood-canal-bridge/ <https://lltk.org/for-immediate-relea se-innovative-fish-passage-project-hopes-to-guide-salmon-and-steelhead-to-survival-at-the-hood-canal-bridge/> * Seattle Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/fish-get-stuck-at-the-hood-canal-bridge-will-this-giant-contraption-save-them-from-the-seals/ <https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/fis h-get-stuck-at-the-hood-canal-bridge-will-this-giant-contraption-save-them-from-the-seals/> * King 5 on Monday night news: https://www.king5.com/video/news/local/new-system-in-place-to-help-fish-navigate-hood-canal-bridge/281-cdfb0259-2777-4c55-90eb-1735183e55aa <https://www.king5.com/video /news/local/new-system-in-place-to-help-fish-navigate-hood-canal-bridge/281-cdfb0259-2777-4c55-90eb-1735183e55aa> * Kitsap Sun: https://www.kitsapsun.com/story/news/2023/04/17/hood-canal-bridge-fillet-project-focused-on-steelhead-salmon-recovery/70116011007/ <https://www.kitsapsun.com/story/news/2023/04/17/hood- canal-bridge-fillet-project-focused-on-steelhead-salmon-recovery/70116011007/> If you have any questions or concerns about these assessment activities, please don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. Best, Shaara Shaara Ainsley | Senior Project Manager 206-382-9555 ext. 27 | LinkedIn | Pronouns: she/her Long Live the Kings <http://www.lltk.org/> | 1326 5th Ave. Ste. 450 | Seattle, WA 98101 Restoring wild salmon and steelhead | Supporting sustainable fishing in the Pacific Northwest �༁ɔ