SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Can an irritating blend of bright lights and loud noise deter ocean-bound salmon from deadly waters? The state Department of Water Resources hopes so.
As early as this week, the agency will install an experimental “bubble barrier” in a side channel of the Sacramento River that has become a death trap for Chinook salmon attempting to migrate downstream to San Francisco Bay.
The barrier, a sheet of bubbles accompanied by strobe lights and underwater acoustics, is meant to scare young salmon away from Georgiana Slough, near Walnut Grove. Salmon that end up in the slough often succumb to hungry striped bass or other predators, or get lost amid pumping operations.
The department will track 1,500 salmon to test the effectiveness of the barrier, which will be removed by mid-May.
