Steve Amaral

Steve Amaral is a Fisheries Scientist at Biopassage Scientific Consulting, a company he started in 2023 after working 30 years at Alden Research Laboratory. He has B.S. and M.S. degrees in fisheries biology, both from the University of Massachusetts. Throughout his career, Steve has been extensively involved in the design, evaluation, and application of fish passage systems at hydropower dams. His experience includes management of laboratory and field evaluations conducted with a variety of screening technologies, behavioral deterrents, and innovative designs for upstream passage. He has also led evaluations of turbine survival and the effects of blade strike, and has worked on the development of desktop models to estimate turbine mortality and total passage survival. Steve’s experience includes numerous studies with state and federally-listed species or species of concern, including American Eel, Pacific salmonids, Atlantic Salmon, and sturgeons. In addition to his experience in North America, he has also worked on fish passage issues for projects in Europe and Asia.