Why did the Department of Interior prescribe volitional fishways?
The Department of Interior prescriptions require volitional fishways to achieve fish passage over each dam, both upstream and downstream. Volitional means that fish will be migrating around a dam through an upstream fish ladder or downstream bypass system as opposed to being trapped and hauled around the dam or attempting to move through hydropower turbines where many would be killed. Volitional fishways allow anadromous fish to migrate when they are physiologically ready and to imprint on the streams and river during their migration down river.
