Salmon Camera Project Using FishSpotter Technology
As part of our efforts to protect and grow populations of wild Chinook Salmon, we operate cameras in Auburn Ravine that record video of salmon as they migrate upstream to spawn every fall and winter. The data we collect from this project helps us to garner support to improve habitat and facilitate natural migration of adult and juvenile salmon.
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Volunteers with Friends of Auburn Ravine use FishSpotter “highlight reels” like this to spot migrating fish. They then shift over to underwater cameras to determine if it was a Salmon or some other fish. If it was a Salmon or a Steelhead, the volunteer documents the sighting on an Excel spreadsheet where they report the date and time, the species and length of the fish, and some other data. This process takes less 2 hours for each full day (24-hours) of recorded video, so our volunteers spend an hour or two each week on this project.
The volunteer work involved with this opportunity can be done at the volunteer’s home, but the volunteer will need to be able to visit Rocklin in western Placer County in California every week or two to pick up and drop of the portable disk drives that we use for this project. The volunteer will need to use their own personal computer running Windows 7 or higher with at least one spare USB port.
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Volunteers will scan “highlight reels” from our overhead camera to spot migrating fish and then shift over to the underwater cameras to determine if it was a salmon or some other fish. The volunteer with then record the species, time, and size on paper or an Excel spreadsheet. This process takes about 1 hour for each full day (24-hours) of recorded video, so the volunteers will only need to spend an hour or two each week on this project.
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Training will be provided in late September or early October. Scanning of video will begin in about 2 weeks after we get our first good rain storms — that’s when the salmon come in!