The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (CTWS), with funding from the Bonneville Power Administration, installed a PIT-tag detection system near the confluence of the Deschutes and Columbia rivers. The system began interrogating on 14 March, 2013. The antenna array is expected to be a very useful tool for determining straying rates of adult steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss and fall Chinook O. tshawytscha returning to spawn, timing and number of migrating bull trout Salvelinus confluentus and sockeye O. nerka from/to the middle Deschutes River, and it may allow an alternative method or means to validate abundance estimates of Pacific lamprey Entosphenus tridentatus.
The detection system is based on Biomark’s new IS1001-MTS Multiplexing Transceiver System. The IS1001-MTS is capable of detecting FDX-B and HDX PIT tags that conform to the ISO 11784/11785 standards. A total of 12 Biomark 20’ STOUT antennas, each controlled by a submersible IS1001 antenna control node secured to the antenna were installed. The IS1001 nodes are connected in series and then in turn are connected to an IS1001-Master Controller located adjacent to the array. Use of the IS1001-MTS enables antennas to be separated by as much as 1,000 feet from the Master Controller compared to approximately 160 feet with the FS1001M. A moveable work platform that contained a mini-excavator and dive shack was staged above the array to facilitate working in the deep swift water.