BEND, Ore. — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will conduct a fish rescue and relocation operation on the upper Deschutes River at Lava Island Falls.
Fishery biologists, staff, and volunteers will try to save stranded fish by moving them from shallow, isolated pools near the falls to the main channel of the Deschutes River.
Redband trout, brown trout, mountain whitefish and sculpin will be captured and relocated to the upstream main channel.
“The extent of the one-mile lava island side channel fish rescue and relocation is daunting,” said Brett Hodgson, ODFW District Fish Biologist. “We will capture as many fish as we can with nets, seines and electrofishing units, if necessary, but it is impossible to rescue all of them.”
The captured fish will be placed in five-gallon buckets of water equipped with small battery operated aerators to help provide the fish oxygen until they released. The buckets will be hand carried up or down the Deschutes River Trail to the point of release.
“While hopeful this experiment will minimize the fish stranding issue, ODFW stresses the need for a long-term solution to the water management issues on the upper Deschutes River,” Hodgson said.
The fish were stranded on the side channel due to low winter flows.
Last year, around 450 redband and brown trout, and hundreds of whitefish and sculpin, died when falling water levels left them stranded in the natural lava side channel. This year’s effort will come just as water levels reach minimum levels.
