Fish ladder

Pool-and-weir fish ladder at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River
Drone video of a fish way in Estonia, on the river Jägala
FERC fish ladder safety sign

A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon, is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as movements of potamodromous species.[1] Most fishways enable fish to pass around the barriers by swimming and leaping up a series of relatively low steps (hence the term ladder) into the waters on the other side. The velocity of water falling over the steps has to be great enough to attract the fish to the ladder, but it cannot be so great that it washes fish back downstream or exhausts them to the point of inability to continue their journey upriver.

  1. ^ "What is a Fish Ladder?". Michigan: Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 27 April 2012.