A Historical Look Back at the Fishladder

We have written here before about the fact that this year is the 50th anniversary of the Whitehorse Rapids Fishway. The fishladder, which is owned by Yukon Energy and operated by the Yukon Fish and Game Association, was built in 1959 to allow the salmon to continue their journey past the Whitehorse dam to their spawning grounds further south.

When the fishway was first built there was no visitor reception centre attached. However there were three viewing windows that allowed people to watch the salmon as they travelled up the ladder, and an information booth was set up and summer students hired to provide information to the public about the ladder. The visitor's building was constructed in the 1980s. The site has become one of the most popular visitor destinations in Whitehorse and each year new displays and programs are added.

We thought you might enjoy seeing some photos of the early days of the fishladder.

This shows the fishladder when it was first built in 1958.
Photo: Yukon Archives/Whitehorse Star

Viewing the salmon in the ladder - circa 1970. Photo: Yukon government

Summer student working at the fishladder in the 1970s. Photo: Yukon government

Diver doing maintenance work in the fishladder circa 1970. Photo: Yukon government.