WASHINGTON, DC—Many fish, including threatened and endangered species like salmon and steelhead trout, return to freshwater to spawn throughout the summer. Unfortunately, this season overlaps with the peak timing for wildfires, when firefighters are often forced to withdraw water from shallow ponds and streams, key habitat for young, small fish. They needed a way to draw water from shallow sources and protect small juvenile fry. A net or filter seemed like the best solution. But it would need to be commercially available, collapsible and portable.

“We needed a screen size that would keep fish from being sucked into the pump or stuck on the screen itself,” said Sam Wu, National Technology and Development Program project manager. “Existing commercial products were too large to work effectively in shallow conditions.”

Tom Moreland, technology transfer coordinator with Forest Service Research and Development, coordinated with the development program to identify ways to work with industry to solve these problems.

They quickly identified a fish net production company, Zinvent, as the most promising partner. The company specializes in developing “GreenScreens” designed to protect juvenile fish species from strong water pump suction. NTDP entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with Zinvent to create designs that met all the unique requirements, including shallow water usage. They were also careful to specify that the end product needed to be compatible with existing equipment and fit the hoses commonly used.

“A CRADA was chosen because it is the best agreement the government has to allow the co-development of a technology with an industry partner,” said Moreland. “This way, it was a cooperative project, and nothing was finalized until we were able to test to ensure we had a strainer that worked.”

The manufacturer created several prototypes, which the program tested in the field before selecting the final product.

“By having the ability to share intellectual property with the manufacturer, we can solve a lot of problems,” said Moreland.

The program has also established agreements with equipment manufacturers to develop safer chainsaw fueling systems and find innovative machine vision solutions for timber harvesting.