Response for project 199602000: Pit Tagging Spring/Summer Chin
Comment on proposed FY 2006 budget
The following information is being provided in accordance with the guidelines established by the NPCC to renew all of the components of the Comparative Survival Study (CSS) for implementation in 2006. The budget requirement identified for the CSS study of $828,535 in the NPCC and BPA list is inadequate to meet the 2006 needs. Specifically the NPCC budget allocation does not account for inflation and increased costs of materials and equipment. The total funding requirement for the CSS in 2006 is projected to be $846,850. This number includes personnel cost increases, increases in fuel costs, rent and other office equipment/supplies increases and assumes that the cost per PT tag will remain the same as in 2005.
Accomplishments since the last review
The CSS has provided valuable information for the region regarding the benefits of transportation of spring Chinook juvenile migrants, reach survival estimates, delayed mortality, smolt to adult returns from individual hatcheries as well as aggregates of specific tributary groups, smolt to adult returns via route of passage, i.e. transportation, bypass or in-river passage. The CSS has provided data that is utilized for in-season passage management. The data and analysis being generated through the CSS study has directly addressed the prevailing fish passage and mitigation management questions. The CSS has provided life cycle data on the groups of marked hatchery and groups of wild spring Chinook data from the CSS mark groups is available to others for additional analysis and is routinely utilized by NOAA fisheries in their analysis of survival and smolt to adult returns. A regional CSS workshop was held which considered and reviewed data and evidence supporting various hypotheses, relating to fish passage and migration through the Columbia and Snake rivers.
FY 2006 goals and anticipated accomplishments
| Manage and Administer Projects | IDFG, USFWS, ODFW and PSMFC have indirect costs relative to management and administration of the project including personnel costs and purchase of tags. | |
| Produce Annual Report | The CSS Oversight Committee produces a final Annual Status Report from the Draft Status Report prepared by the FPC. | |
| Install Fish Trap/Monitoring Weir | IDFG installs, operates, and maintains the Clearwater River trap. | |
| Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data | Marking entities prepare, validate, and submit tagging files | |
| Mark/Tag Animals | A total of 240,500 fish will be marked with PIT tags for this study, marking will be conducted by Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. | |
| Analyze/Interpret Data | The CSS Oversight Committee analyzes and interprets the data generated through the CSS. |
The goals for the CSS for 2006 are to continue PIT tag mark and release groups of hatchery spring Chinook, wild spring Chinook and wild steelhead in order to calculate; smolt to adult returns by route of passage (bypass, transportation or in-river migration), reach survival estimates, passage timing, travel time, estimates of delayed mortality and confidence intervals on each of those parameters. PIT Tag mark groups are anticipated to include: •Dworshak-52,000-spring Chinook •McCall-52,000-spring Chinook •Carson-15,000-spring Chinook •Rapid River-52,000-spring Chinook •Salmon River Trap-5,000-wild Chinook •Clearwater River Trap-3,250-wild Chinook •Clearwater R. trap-1,400-wild steelhead •Snake River Trap-2,000-wild Chinook •Various IDFG traps-14,500-wild Chinook •Imnaha R. AP-21,000-spring Chinook •Catherine Creek AP-21,000-spring Chinook •Grande Ronde R. trap-1,350-wild Chinook In addition we anticipate that the CSS Oversight Committee will complete the CSS Status report for 2005 in 2006 which will include analysis of downstream passage data through 2006 and analysis of adult returns through 2005 and will complete the design for the 2007 CSS study, in 2006.
Subbasin planning
How is this project consistent with subbasin plans?
The CSS study is consistent with sub-basin plans for tributaries above Bonneville Dam providing valuable data to sub basin entities regarding the migration survival and smolt to adult returns of groups’ Chinook salmon from their sub basins. This provides value added to the sub basin plans particularly as it applies to the assessment of benefits of the habitat, hatchery and other sub-basin projects for anadromous fish.
How do goals match subbasin plan priorities?
The CSS study represents and reflects the individual priority that each sub-basin has placed upon evaluating the benefits of sub basin projects to increased production of anadromous fish.
Other comments
The process outlined for the 2006 project submittals is designed for specific habitat projects and does not reflect the importance of projects like the SMP to hydrosystem short term and long term management decisions such as the start or stop of spill for fish passage and flow augmentation.