USACE Dams Video and Live Counting: From November through March, video tape fish counting occurs at US Army Corps of Engineers dams with fish ladders on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Fish counting by video tape takes at least a few days to process: the fish counters have to make, collect, and read the tapes, and then submit their fish counts. DART retrieves and posts the data as soon as it is made available. On April 1, live fish counting resumes at all 8 Columbia River and Snake River Corps dams with fish ladders: from April through October each year for 16 hours each day, fish counters working at each fish ladder look directly into the fish ladders to count the fish passing by.

Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day, McNary, Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite: On March 10, 2011, DART's Adult Passage data from the Army Corps dams--Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day, McNary, Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite--were updated in their entirety (1938-2011) to reflect the numbers currently reported by the US Army Corps Portland District. The updates included replacement of manually entered data from printed reports, the inclusion of historical data previously missing from DART, and the correction of counts that have been updated.

Lyle Adult Trap at Lyle Falls: Daily counts represent number of fish caught in the adult fish trap at Lyle Falls Fishway (Klickitat River RM 2.4). With the exception of some fish that are collected for hatchery broodstock purposes, the vast majority of these fish are returned to the fishway to continue migrating upriver after sampling. The counts do not include fish that ascended the natural waterfalls or fish that passed through the fishway on non-trapping days. Some unknown-origin fish are recorded during fish counting that occurs as fish are returned directly to the fishway without handling or sampling. Data is provisional and subject to change following review and validation. http://www.ykfp.org/klickitat/Data_lyleadulttrap.htm

Willamette Falls Video Counting: Fish counting through Willamette Falls fishway occurs at the main viewing window. Video cameras and time lapsed video recorders are used to record fish passage 24 hrs/day, 365 days/year. The ODFW schedule for reviewing the tapes is Monday through Friday. It takes most of the day to accurately review one day of fish passage on tape when the counts are high.

Individual Status Reports

USACE Data Disclaimer: These data are furnished with the understanding that the Corps of Engineers makes no warranties concerning the accuracy, reliability, or suitability of the data for any particular purpose.

Yakima Klickitat Fisheries Project Data: Historical daily counts for Roza Dam for the years 1940-1967 and 1982-1985 were obtained and loaded from data provided courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Yakima office. In years where daily counts are not available, the Yakama Nation has provided weekly counts with data assigned to an arbitrary day in the week for which counts are available. This is the case for Prosser Dam for the years 1983-1991 and for Roza Dam for the years 1986-1990. [Text from the Yakima Klickitat Fisheries Project web page, http://ykfp.org/adultcounts.htm.]

Tumwater Dam: Adult passage data for Tumwater Dam is the combination of released counts, referring to fish passed upstream of the dam and allowed to spawn naturally, and collected counts, referring to fish retained for hatchery broodstock. The Chinook adult passage counts are the sum of hatchery spring, hatchery summer, wild spring, and wild summer chinook as reported by WDFW and Chelan PUD. The Jack Chinook adult passage counts are the sum of hatchery spring, hatchery summer, wild spring, and wild summer jack chinook as reported by WDFW and Chelan PUD.

Adult Species Inventory

Click on a species name in the list to view all locations and year range inventory information for Adult Passage Visual Count dataset.

• Chinook
• Jack Chinook
• Chinook Minijacks
• Chum
• Coho
• Jack Coho
• Pink
• Sockeye
• Steelhead
• Steelhead-Wild


• Bull Trout
• Lamprey
• Shad

Run Schedules for Adult Chinook

Adult Passage Glossary

Chinook Run

Chinook runs (referring to the season when adults migrate upstream) are based on run schedules by project as established by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Yakima Klickitat Fisheries Project. Sp = Spring, Su = Summer, Fa = Fall

Chinook

This field represents the total number of adult chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) counted at the dam (project). This includes only fish judged to be fully mature (age 3 to 5). This field is the daily total passage count for the Graphics & Text and Composite query types, the monthly total passage count for the Monthly Summary query type, and the annual total passage count for the Annual Summary query type.

Chinook 10 year average

This field represents the calendar day 10 year average for adult chinook.¹

Jack Chinook

This field represents subadult but reproductively mature chinook counted at the dam. Jacks return after one year in the ocean, two to three years before typical adults. The fraction of the population that returns early may be fairly constant, which means that jack counts could give an indication of how strong the adult return will be in two or three years. USACE designates jack chinook salmon as fish between 12 and 22 inches in length. Salmonids under 12 inches in length are not identified as to species. This field is the daily total passage count for the Graphics & Text and Composite query types, the monthly total passage count for the Monthly Summary query type, and the annual total passage count for the Annual Summary query type.

Jack Chinook 10 year average

This field represents the calendar day 10 year average for jack chinook.¹

Steelhead

This field represents the total count of adult steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), both wild and hatchery. A few steelhead adults may spawn and survive to return to the ocean, unlike other salmonid stocks. The Steelhead field includes both hatchery and wild counts. Prior to 1995, wild steelhead data was not published on a daily basis. This field is the daily total passage count for the Graphics & Text and Composite query types, the monthly total passage count for the Monthly Summary query type, and the annual total passage count for the Annual Summary query type.

Steelhead 10 year average

This field represents the calendar day 10 year average for steelhead.¹

Steelhead Wild

This field represents adult wild steelhead (subset of the Steelhead field) and may include unmarked hatchery fish. Prior to 1995, wild steelhead data was not published on a daily basis. The wild steelhead column (SthdW) is a subset of the total steelhead column (Sthd). This field is the daily total passage count for the Graphics & Text and Composite query types, the monthly total passage count for the Monthly Summary query type, and the annual total passage count for the Annual Summary query type.

Sockeye

Adult sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka) typically return to spawn after spending two or more years in the ocean; their counts are represented in this field. This field is the daily total passage count for the Graphics & Text and Composite query types, the monthly total passage count for the Monthly Summary query type, and the annual total passage count for the Annual Summary query type.

Sockeye 10 year average

This field represents the calendar day 10 year average for sockeye.¹

Coho

This field represents the total number of adult coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) observed at the dam; only mature individuals are counted in this field. This field is the daily total passage count for the Graphics & Text and Composite query types, the monthly total passage count for the Monthly Summary query type, and the annual total passage count for the Annual Summary query type.

Jack Coho

This field represents the total number of jack coho, usually two-year-old, returning early to the river. USACE designates jack coho salmon as fish between 12 and 18 inches in length. Salmonids under 12 inches in length are not identified as to species. This field is the daily total passage count for the Graphics & Text and Composite query types, the monthly total passage count for the Monthly Summary query type, and the annual total passage count for the Annual Summary query type.

Coho 10 year average

This field represents the calendar day 10 year average for coho.¹

Shad

This field represents total counts of adult shad (Alosa sapidissima). Shad were introduced on this coast in 1871 and have since become quite abundant; they support a substantial fishery in their native habitat on the east coast of North America. This field is the daily total passage count for the Graphics & Text and Composite query types, the monthly total passage count for the Monthly Summary query type, and the annual total passage count for the Annual Summary query type.

Lamprey

This field represents total counts of lamprey. This field is the daily total passage count for the Graphics & Text and Composite query types, the monthly total passage count for the Monthly Summary query type, and the annual total passage count for the Annual Summary query type.

Bulltrout

This field represents total counts of adult bulltrout. Bulltrout daily is currently reported at three projects in the Upper Columbia region: Rock Island, Rocky Reach, and Wells. This field is the daily total passage count for the Graphics & Text and Composite query types, the monthly total passage count for the Monthly Summary query type, and the annual total passage count for the Annual Summary query type.

River Environment Glossary

Please refer to the River Environment Glossary

Calculating 10 Year Averages

The 10 Year Averages are calculated by DART for each calendar day of data at each project. For the current year and any given project/month/day, the data from the previous 10 years on that calendar day is summed and divided by the number of non-null data points available. Calendar day averaging was chosen because, historically, data observations begin on a specific calendar day. Calendar day averaging gives different results than day of year averaging.