The hydraulic fishway Fishheart will be in use at the lowermost power plant on the Iijoki river, PVO-Vesivoima Oy’s Raasakka power plant, from 2023 to 2025. The system will be used not only as a migration solution for fish to bypass the Raasakka power plant, but also to improve the efficiency of the transport of fish.
Fishheart in Raasakka is the first ready-to-use solution at the lowermost power plant on a harnessed river flowing into the sea. Its operation will provide valuable additional information on the efficiency of the system as part of a solution to migratory fish issues in harnessed rivers. For this reason, studies will also be carried out in Raasakka to determine the number of migratory fish below the power plant and the operational efficiency of the fishway. Based on the experiences from the 2023–2025 operating period, Fishheart will either remain at the Raasakka power plant, e.g. as a solution to support future fishway solutions, or it will be relocated to other sites.
“Due to delays in the permit processes for the Raasakka power plant and fishways, we saw the need to promote the Raasakka migratory fish solution in other ways. The use of the Fishheart system will have no impact on the promotion of the pending fishway projects, and the system is therefore not a substitute for them,” says Jyrki Salo, PVO-Vesivoima’s environmental specialist.
“We’re really excited about the opportunity to test the system in Raasakka, which is known to have a large number of fish in the salmon family. The first season at a new site is always a learning curve. The second summer will reveal the effectiveness of the system,” says Mika Sohlberg of Fishheart Ltd.
The hydraulic fishway solution will also be used in Raasakka for transport through a separate fish catching concept included in Fishheart. In addition, the plan it to test Fishheart in supporting the catching of migratory whitefish broodstock to acquire roe. The system can also be used to help achieve PVO-Vesivoima Oy’s river lamprey transport obligation.
Additional information:
Jyrki Salo, environmental specialist, PVO-Vesivoima Oy, tel. +358 50 3058 299, jyrki.salo@pvo.fi
Mika Sohlberg, Sales and Marketing Manager, Kalasydän Ltd., tel. +358 50 0103 344,
mika@fishheart.com