Section 1. Administrative
| Proposal title | Assessment and Implementation of Technologies to Monitor Adult Spring and Summer Chinook Salmon Abundance in Snake River Basin Tributary Streams |
| Proposal ID | 23051 |
| Organization | Nez Perce Tribe (NPT) |
| Proposal contact person or principal investigator |
| Name | Paul Kucera |
| Mailing address | P.O. Box 365 Lapwai, ID 83540 |
| Phone / email | 2088437145 / paulk@nezperce.org |
| Manager authorizing this project | Jaime Pinkham |
| Review cycle | FY 2001 High Priority |
| Province / Subbasin | Mountain Snake / Salmon |
| Short description | Identify and implement technologies to accurately quantify adult spring and summer chinook salmon adult spawner abundance in the Secesh River. Adult abundance data would allow a measure of recovery threshold abundance of a listed species (NMFS 2000). |
| Target species | Spring and Summer Chinook Salmon |
Project location
| Latitude | Longitude | Description |
|---|
| 45.0248 |
-115.7065 |
Secesh River |
Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives (RPAs)
Relevant RPAs based on NMFS/BPA review:
| Reviewing agency | Action # | BiOp Agency | Description |
|---|
Section 2. Past accomplishments
Section 3. Relationships to other projects
| Project ID | Title | Description |
|---|
Section 4. Budget for Planning and Design phase
Task-based budget
| Objective | Task | Duration in FYs | Estimated 2001 cost | Subcontractor |
|---|
Outyear objectives-based budget
| Objective | Starting FY | Ending FY | Estimated cost |
|---|
Outyear budgets for Planning and Design phase
Section 5. Budget for Construction and Implementation phase
Task-based budget
| Objective | Task | Duration in FYs | Estimated 2001 cost | Subcontractor |
|---|
Outyear objectives-based budget
| Objective | Starting FY | Ending FY | Estimated cost |
|---|
Outyear budgets for Construction and Implementation phase
Section 6. Budget for Operations and Maintenance phase
Task-based budget
| Objective | Task | Duration in FYs | Estimated 2001 cost | Subcontractor |
|---|
Outyear objectives-based budget
| Objective | Starting FY | Ending FY | Estimated cost |
|---|
Outyear budgets for Operations and Maintenance phase
| FY 2003 | FY 2002 |
|---|
| $100,000 | $1,745,019 |
Section 7. Budget for Monitoring and Evaluation phase
Task-based budget
| Objective | Task | Duration in FYs | Estimated 2001 cost | Subcontractor |
|---|
Outyear objectives-based budget
| Objective | Starting FY | Ending FY | Estimated cost |
|---|
Outyear budgets for Monitoring and Evaluation phase
| FY 2002 | FY 2003 | FY 2004 | FY 2005 |
|---|
| $112,510 | $348,000 | $354,200 | $360,000 |
Section 8. Estimated budget summary
Itemized budget
| Item | Note | FY 2001 cost |
|---|
| Personnel |
FTE: 3.2 |
$115,094 |
| Fringe |
@35% |
$40,283 |
| Supplies |
office rental, utilities, office supplies, phone/fax, xerox, thermographs, field supplies, tools |
$28,340 |
| Travel |
Air travel, perdiem, car rental, field perdiem, GSA vehicle lease, GSA mileage, helicopter |
$36,860 |
| Indirect |
@20.9% |
$46,101 |
| Subcontractor |
Engin. Review, Prelim/Final Engin. Design, NEPA, Consultants, Agency Coordination ($10,000 each) |
$250,000 |
| $516,678 |
Total estimated budget
| Total FY 2001 cost | $516,678 |
| Amount anticipated from previously committed BPA funds | $0 |
| Total FY 2001 budget request | $516,678 |
| FY 2001 forecast from 2000 | $0 |
| % change from forecast | 0.0% |
Cost sharing
| Organization | Item or service provided | Amount | Cash or in-kind |
|---|
Reviews and recommendations
This information was not provided on the original proposals, but was generated during the review process.
Recommendation:
N/A
Date:
Feb 1, 2001
Comment:
This proposal for an assessment does not address imminent risks to ESA stocks by offering direct on-the-ground benefits with one-time funding. The spawner surveys should be conducted.
Recommendation:
HP "B" S
Date:
Feb 1, 2001
Comment:
Although this activity is called for in the NMFS Biological Opinion, this project doesn't meet the criteria for high priority under this funding category. This project needs basin wide coordination.
Recommendation:
Date:
Feb 15, 2001
Comment:
ISRP Comment: This proposal for an assessment does not address imminent risks to ESA stocks by offering direct on-the-ground benefits with one-time funding. The spawner surveys should be conducted.
Response: The Nez Perce Tribe believes that this High Priority project proposal is directly related to the NMFS (2000) Biological Opinion on the operation of the federal Columbia River power system. The Biological Opinion (NMFS 2000) recommended that accurate assessment of spawner escapement of listed ESU's are required for determining the characteristics, viability, recovery status, and delisting of ESU's under the Endangered Species Act. NMFS also recommended characterizing populations by abundance/productivity, diversity (viability), spatial structure and habitat capacity most of which rely on some quantitative measure of adult abundance. Adult abundance information is a necessary part of the NMFS Biological Opinion as stated in Section 9.6.5 Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Plan, and subsection 9.6.5.2 Population Status and Environmental Status Monitoring. Measurement of adult abundance is also a necessary component of proposed short-term measures of stock performance that focuses on life history stages. The recovery metric for listed ESU's is the likelihood that the 8 year geometric mean abundance of natural spawners in a population will be equal to or greater than an identified recovery abundance level.
Current chinook salmon redd count information represent an index of relative abundance only, and provides no direct quantitative measure of spawner abundance. Expansions of redd counts to spawner numbers are influenced by measurement error and uncertainty of assumptions regarding estimates of fish per redd, relative numbers in surveyed and unsurveyed areas, prespawning mortality rates, age composition and hatchery fish contribution (Beamesderfer et al. 1999, Faurot and Kucera 2000). Redd count methods will not be able to determine when or if an ESU reaches a desired recovery threshold. Collection of adult spawner abundance information allows salmon managers to know, with certainty, if recovery thresholds are being met.
This proposed project is a critical step towards initiating accurate and precise quantification of adult spawner abundances as required under the NMFS (2000) Biological Opinion. Salmon populations and investment of Fish and Wildlife Program funds in the region are placed at risk by an inability to quantify adult abundance to evaluate ESA recovery alternatives and program effectiveness. Delayed implementation of this project will further inhibit managers and policy makers ability to directly measure the benefits of recovery actions identified in the NMFS (2000) Biological Opinion.
Literature Cited
Beamesderfer, R.C.P., H.A. Schaller, M.P. Zimmerman, C.P. Petrosky, O.P. Langness and L. BaVoy. 1998. Spawner-recruit data for spring and summer chinook populations in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Section 2, Chapter 1 In: D.R. Marmorek and E.N. Peters, eds. Plan for Analyzing and Testing Hypotheses (PATH): Retrospective and prospective analyses of spring/summer Chinook reviewed in FY 1997. Compiled and edited by ESSA Technologies LTD., Vancouver, B.C.
Faurot, D. and P.A. Kucera. 2000. Escapement monitoring of adult chinook salmon in the Secesh River and Lake Creek, Idaho, 1998. Annual report prepared for the Bonneville Power Administration. Nez Perce Tribe Department of Fisheries Resources Management.
National Marine Fisheries Service. 2000. Biological Opinion. Reinitiation of consultation on operation of the Federal Columbia River power system, including the juvenile fish transportation program, and 19 Bureau of Reclamation projects in the Columbia Basin. National Marine Fisheries Service, Seattle, Washington. December.
NMFS-NOAA July 17, 2000. Draft Cumulative Risk Initiative