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View Full Version : INSIDE the fish ladder on the Raritan river:


AndyS
06-03-2011, 08:26 PM
June 3, 2011
Today I got to a chance to actually go inside the viewing room in the fish ladder on the Raritan river.
My two hosts were fisheries technicians from NJFG&W. Before going in I had to fill out the necessary volunteer paperwork with NJFG&W and register at the front gate with the New Jersey American Water Company. I found the whole operation really interesting. The ladder itself is a series of baffles and small rooms. The fish come in a narrow passage and enter a small room, then again and again, as many as eight small rooms and passages to complete their journey through the fish ladder. Towards the end of the fish ladder there is a viewing room with a glass wall and a camera inside. The two techs work hard in maintaining the camera, batteries, cleaning the viewing room glass, replacing the time lapse fish recording tapes, cleaning the white background and keeping the fish ladder clear of debris. It seems the toughest part is keeping the small passages within the fish ladder clear of debris, as things like tree branches and small logs get wedged within the fish ladder.
The two technicians said it has been a good year for both American and Gizzard shad from what they have seen on this years tapes. Along with shad, there have been trout, bass and walleye caught on film.
I can’t thank these guys enough for keeping the lines of communication open, they have been prompt and forthright in all their duties pertaining to the fish ladder.
I took a lot of photos and I’ll write in detail what each photo is after I post up.

AndyS
06-03-2011, 08:30 PM
more

AndyS
06-03-2011, 08:31 PM
more.

AndyS
06-03-2011, 08:41 PM
1. looking across the river
2. camera and viewing room
3. camera
4. camera
5. top of viewing room
6. cleaning the glass
7. entrance to fish ladder
8. removing debris
9. top of entire fish ladder
10. portal sign
11. long view
12. down river
13. stairs going down to viewing room
14. cleaning the white background
15. NJFG&W car
16. removing debris

surfrod
06-04-2011, 09:40 AM
Andy,

You are DA man... awesome. Thanks for the pics and updates!

surfrod
06-04-2011, 09:43 AM
is that camera online similar to the fairmont water works ladder?

AndyS
06-04-2011, 10:33 AM
Good question. I thought the way to go would be to web cam the whole operation, but since it is in a remote location with no hard wire available they went with recording tapes and deep cycle batteries. There are some fish ladders with a web cam, and even eagles nests and so on, we'll see what the future holds, but till now this is how the operation works. I did get to watch some of the tapes a few weeks ago and the system works very well. Hours of operating the camera were scaled back to mainly daylight hours when the shad move, and just for the spring months. The camera is based primarily on the shad run.

Mike M
06-04-2011, 01:11 PM
Good work Andy. Thanks for the info.

duranautic al
06-09-2011, 02:05 PM
Very cool stuff!

joeya78
08-08-2011, 04:48 PM
awesome Andy, not everyday you get to see that

AndyS
08-19-2011, 05:35 PM
Dam removal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuoc5c32v5E

surfrod
08-19-2011, 05:38 PM
"hopefully to reestablish fish populations that have not been seen, since Colonial times" :D

Salt
08-31-2011, 08:43 PM
Hey, thanks for the video Andy, A lot more dam's to go, but at least they are making progress.

PeteyHD
08-31-2011, 11:47 PM
That's super cool Andy. Must have been a treat to see all that in person

Pete