The Seattle Times
Baker Lake summer sockeye could soon see a dramatic boost in returns.
Puget Sound Energy work crews launched a second 1,100-ton barge fish collector March 1, anchored just above Lower Baker Dam on Lake Shannon.
“If you’re a sockeye fan, this is yet another great thing for the (Baker-Skagit river) system,” said Brett Barkdull, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist in La Conner.
The huge floating barge has netting that draws migrating juvenile salmon into a funnel where they’re held in tanks and evaluated. Fish are then transferred by trucks below the two dams, and eventually released into the river to complete their outbound migration.