The potential of strobe lighting as a cost-effective means for reducing impingement and entrainment

For over forty years, the testing of strobe lighting as a potential technology to guide fish to areas of safe bypass around dams and water diversions has been conducted in the laboratory, modified field tests, and in full site applications. Many of the early efforts in evaluating strobe lighting as a potential protection technology for fish were encouraging. Other laboratory or field tests may have been adversely impacted by the limited capabilities of the equipment utilized. Testing prior to late 1991 was based on the use of strobe lighting equipment purchased “off the retail shelf” and, while at the time it represented the best available technology, these “standard” systems were designed exclusively for above water usage. Only in the last several years have the technical advancements in underwater strobe lighting been developed which allow for prolonged and effective usage underwater, and therefore, provide the opportunity to fully evaluate the potential of this behavioral technology. This paper reviews recent examples where strobe lighting has been used successfully to direct the movement of fish in laboratory and field applications.