Who will protect the Salmon?

The Atlantic Salmon. Once common on the Rhein River.

 People have longed to see Salmon swimming once more on the upper reaches of the Rhein River.
However it has been a long struggle to undo centuries of bad behavior. Most notably The Sandoz warehouse fire in 1986 which spilled hazardous and deadly chemicals into the river from Basel all the way to the North Sea. It has been estimated (at the time) over half a million fish were killed and some endemic species were killed off altogether. Over a decade of work and effort gone in a few days time.

In response to this tragic occurrence in 1987 the Rhein Action Program was created. It's stated goal was to see Salmon on the Rhein River in 2000. As the Americans found out after the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens in Western Washington, Salmon are incredibly sensitive to change, but are to their credit as a species more than willing to return if given half a chance.

The rivers in Washington State and Northwest Oregon had been choked with pyroclastic mud flows, volcanic ash, downed and rotting homes, trees and any number of obstacles Salmon had never encountered before. Yet years later is has been noted the Salmon and Trout are doing fine. The fish population in Spirit Lake at the base of Mount St. Helens was once a steaming cauldron of mud, dead fish and trees. It still has it's rotting logs, but the fish have come back.

Spirit Lake is still full of dead trees from the eruption. But 50.8 Centimeter Rainbow Trout are regularly caught.
The biodiversity of the region has bounced back remarkably.
(c) by Diane Cook and Len Jenshel

So it was with some surprise in 1997 Salmon were spotted on the lower reaches of the Rhein. But what of the upper? Well there are some obstacles in their way, which make it next to impossible for them to
return. Mainly the eight hydroelectric dams owned by Electricite' de France (EDF) from Strasbourg to Basel. EDF has so far have baulked at doing more than saying they will look into studying the problem with creating fish ladders.

Alternatively instead of constructing something that would benefit France and ecotourism, EDF has offered to provide "Fish Taxis" using large diesel motor equipment to move large tanks filled with migrating Salmon. Which is a bit incongruous coming from a company which bills itself as being green, and interested in having a smaller carbon footprint.

In the spirit of full disclosure EDF and the world at large might very well be in the process of finding a solution which has come from all places the American food harvesting industry. Which prior to 2014 was an option which wasn't available. Orchard owners for years have struggled to pick and move from tree to box to production facilities Apples, Pears, Peaches, and similar fruit without their produce having the potential to be damaged badly in transit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUuFxTY1pyT2JDNyiQNfRkCg&t=45&v=meNouB_3u2w


In 2007 in Bellingham, Washington USA a company called Woosh Innovations was founded. What is important about a produce transportation company you might ask? They have created the world's first fish transportation system which does not harm the fish and more importantly they can overcome almost all vertical limitations to move said fish. It basically involves misting a food grade vinyl tube with water and creating a low pressure vacuum inside which sucks the fish along the length at amazing rates of speed. The same system was created to move Apples and other perishable fruit.


The other significant factors are, it is relatively inexpensive. It is scalable, meaning they can make the length of the fish run smaller or larger as required. It doesn't have to remain in place like a large fish ladder system the French Government absolutely doesn't want to pay for. Training time for equipment operators is minimal and the entire system can be stored or used elsewhere when the Salmon are not travelling to and from the sea.

It also looks like the fish if they could talk, would ask if they could try it more than once...CBS News has even covered the "Salmon Cannon."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn6_6N_KDYw


From Whooshh Innovations website:

WHOOSHH INNOVATIONS  INSTALLS FIRST LIVE FISH TRANSPORT SYSTEM FOR CHINOOK SALMON ON THE WASHOUGAL RIVER Bellevue, Wash., September 19, 2014—"Whooshh™ Innovations, a leader in the development of innovative fish transport systems (www.wooshh.com,) reports initial success of proprietary fish transport system for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) on the Washougal River. 
The installation of the so‐called Salmon Cannon™ at the Washougal weir has made it possible for WDFW staff to move hatchery and wild fall Chinook salmon from the weir up the riverbank with minimal handling, according to Whooshh Innovations CEO, Vince Bryan III.  Fish travel via the proprietary “Whooshh tube,” a distance of 120 linear feet in approximately five seconds, and then exit into awaiting tanker trucks destined for the hatchery."

Could this be then the solution to overcoming a fiscally constipated French Government and their intransigent attitudes towards revitalizing the upper reaches of the Rhein? It is at least is an option which prior had not existed before.

The Principality of Rheinbergen thinks this is a solution which would cost little in the way of expenditures on the part of France and EDF specifically and in return would pay them in dividends in both goodwill and an increase in economics to the region, which in turn would generate even more tax monies. Rarely if ever are there true win/win scenarios in life. This however might be the exception to the rule.

One of the Non Governmental Organizations who is actively searching, and promoting solutions to returning wild Atlantic Salmon to Switzerland, is "Salmon Comeback"

Their website address is:
http://www.salmoncomeback.org/

They are currently calling for an Atlantic Salmon Summit on 1-3 of October 2015 at Huminuge France. Their website also has an online petition you can sign, asking for the French government's cooperation in opening the upper reaches of the Rhein to the Atlantic Salmon runs. We enthusiastically support their efforts in trying to reintroduce native fish populations on the upper Rhein. We would encourage you to check out their website and see what you can do to help.

In the interest of fairness we would encourage you to look at all the websites or sources who contributed to this article and form your own opinion:

The Upper Rhine Conference combines governmental and administrative authorities at regional level. It forms the institutional framework of cross-border cooperation:
http://www.oberrheinkonferenz.org/de/home.html


Rhine Salmon 2020 has a wonderful PDF document, describing their efforts:
http://www.iksr.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Dokumente_en/rz_engl_lachs2020_net.pdf

EDF's corporate website:
http://www.edf.com/the-edf-group-42667.html

Salmon Come Back website in case you missed it earlier in the article:
http://www.salmoncomeback.org/

A remarkably funny blog in it's witty criticism of politics on the Rhine and in the fishing world:
https://breisach.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/rhine-salmon/

And lastly the Whooshh Website. The people who created the Salmon Cannon:
http://whooshh.com/