The fish ladder at the Ballard Locks is closed for its annual cleaning.
Photo Courtesy of USACE/Historical Collection Lake Washington Ship Canal
“Most of the fish ladder plaza area and the ramp to the viewing room will be closed to the public,” states the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) website. The cleaning, which got underway yesterday, will wrap up on Friday, June 4th.
Each spring the USACE gets the fish ladder ready for thousands of adult salmon to migrate upstream to spawn. According to the USACE, approximately 33,702 sockeye, 5,082 chinook and 20,732 coho adult salmon made their way up the fish ladder last year on their way upstream.
Friends of the Ballard Locks has a great write-up on the history of the fish ladder and timing for salmon migration.
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Maybe while it’s drained, they could install a couple of webcams. That way people could check online to see if the salmon are running before going to the Locks.
I second Moe’s suggestion! I’ve always wanted a way to know if fish are there before visiting the Locks.
But for how long? Being that Memorial Day weekend is fast approaching, wouldn’t they want to wait until after the big tourist wave to pass before they shut it down? I have several family members coming to town and they’re excited to go back and see the fish…I guess they’ll just have to skip it this year. Bummer.