Fish protection at water intakes using a new signal development process and sound system

American Electric Power Company, Inc., is exploring the feasibility of using a patented signal development process and sound system to guide aquatic animals with underwater sound. Sounds from animals such as chinook salmon, steelhead trout, striped bass, freshwater drum, largemouth bass, and gizzard shad can be used to synthesize a new signal to stimulate the animal in the most sensitive portion of its hearing range. AEP's field tests during its research demonstrate that adult chinook salmon, steelhead trout and warmwater fish, and steelhead trout and chinook salmon smolts can be repelled with a properly-tuned system. The signal development process and sound system is designed to be transportable and use animals at the site to incorporate site-specific factors known to affect underwater sound, e.g., bottom shape and type, water current, and temperature. This paper reports that, because the overall goal of this research was to determine the feasibility of using sound to divert fish, it was essential that the approach use a signal development process which could be customized to animals and site conditions at any hydropower plant site