Causes of Fish Lift Shutdowns on U.S. East Coast Hydroelectric Dams.

This article examines the frequency and causes of shutdowns of fish lifts—mechanical devices that physically raise anadromous fish over dams—in six major northeastern U.S. rivers. Fish lifts, used as an alternative to fish ladders at high dams, were found to be nonoperational for 8–26% of their respective fish passage seasons, which ranged from about 49 to 205 days. Shutdown causes varied widely among sites and included mechanical failures, physical conditions such as high river flows and temperatures, scheduling issues like limited staffing on weekends or holidays, and other factors, with some shutdowns lacking documented reasons. The study highlights that these diverse and frequent shutdowns represent a systemic weakness of fish lifts in restoring migratory fish populations, underscoring the need for improved operational reliability and supporting arguments for dam removal where feasible.