Section 1. Administrative
| Proposal title | A Feasibility Study for Pacific Ocean Salmon Tracking (POST) |
| Proposal ID | 200008000 |
| Organization | Kintama Research Corporation (Kintama Corp) |
| Proposal contact person or principal investigator |
| Name | D.W. Welch |
| Mailing address | 321-2815 Departure Bay Rd Nanaimo, British Columbia Canada V9S 5P4 |
| Phone / email | 2507143526 / welchd@pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca |
| Manager authorizing this project | D. Welch |
| Review cycle | FY 2001 Innovative |
| Province / Subbasin | Systemwide / Systemwide |
| Short description | (1) Evaluate new acoustic tracking technology to verify its capabilities for use on the West Coast and (2) Design an acoustic monitoring network to track movement of salmon smolts into the ocean and along the continental shelf to areas of ocean residency |
| Target species | Chinook, steelhead, and coho |
Project location
| Latitude | Longitude | Description |
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Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives (RPAs)
Relevant RPAs based on NMFS/BPA review:
| Reviewing agency | Action # | BiOp Agency | Description |
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Section 2. Past accomplishments
Section 3. Relationships to other projects
| Project ID | Title | Description |
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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
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
Section 8. Estimated budget summary
Itemized budget
| Item | Note | FY 2001 cost |
|---|
| Personnel |
FTE: Welch |
$44,436 |
| Fringe |
@30% |
$19,044 |
| Supplies |
Laptop for field; analysis software, DGPS (2), VR-2(10), V8SC(50), Dummy tags(100), misc. supplies |
$43,160 |
| Travel |
Vehicle lease, travel to field & testing sites |
$9,600 |
| PIT tags |
100 |
$240 |
| Subcontractor |
# of tags: Assistance with surgical protocols and experiment |
$10,000 |
| Other |
Develop seabed assessments and determine trawler activity, develop large-scale deployment charts |
$73,320 |
| Subcontractor |
Vessel charters |
$12,000 |
| Other |
SBE19 CTD, Acoustic trigger unit(1) & releases(2), mooring supplies |
$16,800 |
| $228,600 |
Total estimated budget
| Total FY 2001 cost | $228,600 |
| Total FY 2001 budget request | $228,600 |
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:
1; Yes - A
Date:
Dec 15, 2000
Comment:
This excellent innovative proposal ranked the highest because it promises the greatest potential benefit among the proposals to the Council's Fish and Wildlife Program. The proposal calls for testing the feasibility of using sonic tags for tracking juvenile salmon. The tags are particularly attractive because they also work in saltwater, unlike traditional radio tags currently in use in the region. Likelihood of success seems excellent, because similar work has been tested with success in the Bay of Fundy on the North Atlantic Coast. Success of this project should allow design of studies for better estimation of survival rates of emigrating juveniles through the estuary and into the ocean. Ability to track fish in saltwater would also provide needed information on the use of estuary habitat. The sonic tags also work in freshwater allowing fish to be tracked from some point upstream through the estuary and into the ocean plume. The proposal is clearly presented.
The sponsor proposes to also consider the design of a series of detection sites to track the migration of fish along the Coasts of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska. For some species, this would potentially provide valuable information on mortality in the ocean, migration to the open ocean, residence in areas along the coast for an extended period, and exposure to ocean fisheries. The proponent recognizes potential limitations of the methodology and plans to work through technical and scientific issues in workshops.
During the Council review and BPA contracting process, the availability of the principal investigator needs to be assured.
This is an excellent proposal that the ISRP read with great interest. In the process of review, the ISRP made some suggestions that would potentially improve the project:
1. The feasibility of the project might be tested with large smolts, for example, steelhead or spring/summer chinook. Growth enhancement of smolts of other species so that they can carry the sonic tag might be left for future applications.
2. The major objectives and steps of the feasibility study are well thought out and justified. The ISRP suggests that the sponsor consider use of a three-factor (site, distance, and tag/receiver orientation) experiment with at least two levels of each factor with blocking on time.
3. Sequence of implementation might begin in the river, move to the estuary, the plume, and then the ocean. This approach could get at some critical information while testing the application of the technology at increasingly more challenging scales.
4. Sonic tags may also enhance the recovery of archival tags that store information on time and the migration path of a tagged fish in the open ocean.
Recommendation:
Recommended Action
Date:
Jan 17, 2001
Comment:
This proposal while very innovative should be scaled in phases rather than presented as a complete project since there are uncertainties, which should be addressed prior to moving to the next phase. Phases may be delineated as; tag application, tracking, and analysis.
Tag Application - It is apparent that the application of the tag would target larger fish, and is indicated as a surgical procedure, the experimental variability created by this would be large. In many cases the larger fish would move beyond the Continental Shelf and beyond the range of tracking devices.
Tracking – Tags must be within 400 miles of a tracking device and have a battery life of 3 months. A rapidly migrating smolt would be recorded as transiting the sites but what would be the action if the fish did not migrate through the area within the battery life.
Analysis - The limited number (4096) of individual codes that can be produced would limit the applicability of the data. In many cases to offset the low survival of salmon smolts.
Recommendation:
Recommended Action
Date:
Jan 17, 2001
Comment:
This proposal while very innovative should be scaled in phases rather than presented as a complete project since there are uncertainties, which should be addressed prior to moving to the next phase. Phases may be delineated as; tag application, tracking, and analysis.
Tag Application - It is apparent that the application of the tag would target larger fish, and is indicated as a surgical procedure, the experimental variability created by this would be large. In many cases the larger fish would move beyond the Continental Shelf and beyond the range of tracking devices.
Tracking – Tags must be within 400 miles of a tracking device and have a battery life of 3 months. A rapidly migrating smolt would be recorded as transiting the sites but what would be the action if the fish did not migrate through the area within the battery life.
Analysis - The limited number (4096) of individual codes that can be produced would limit the applicability of the data. In many cases to offset the low survival of salmon smolts.
Recommendation:
Fund
Date:
Feb 8, 2001
Comment:
