FY 2003 Mainstem/Systemwide proposal 200309400

Section 1. General administrative information
Section 2. Past accomplishments
Section 3. Relationships to other projects
Section 4. Budgets for planning/design phase
Section 5. Budgets for construction/implementation phase
Section 6. Budgets for operations/maintenance phase
Section 7. Budgets for monitoring/evaluation phase
Section 8. Budget summary

Reviews and Recommendations

Additional documents

Title	Type
35042 Narrative	Narrative
35042 Powerpoint Presentation	Powerpoint Presentation
Sturgeon Overview	Powerpoint Presentation

Section 1. Administrative

Proposal title	Evaluate the Effects of Prey Availability on Recruitment of White Sturgeon in the Columbia River
Proposal ID	200309400
Organization	U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Proposal contact person or principal investigator
Name	Michael J. Parsley
Mailing address	CRRL, 5501A Cook-Underwood Road Cook, WA 98605
Phone / email	5095382299 / michael_parsley@usgs.gov
Manager authorizing this project	Michael J. Parsley
Review cycle	Mainstem/Systemwide
Province / Subbasin	Mainstem/Systemwide /
Short description	Ascertain how forage influences recruitment by investigating the influence of food deprivation at the onset of exogenous feeding, compare prey availability among areas with differing recruitment, and determine growth rate potential among areas.
Target species	White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus)

Project location

Latitude	Longitude	Description
		Mainstem & Systemwide

Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives (RPAs)

Sponsor-reported:

RPA

Relevant RPAs based on NMFS/BPA review:

Reviewing agency	Action #	BiOp Agency	Description

Section 2. Past accomplishments

Year	Accomplishment

Section 3. Relationships to other projects

Project ID	Title	Description
198605000	White Sturgeon Mitigation and Restoration in the Columbia and Snake Rivers	This project will compliment 198605000 by (1) providing a better understanding of factors influencing recruitment of white sturgeon and (2) providing an assessment of the capacity of altered environments to support white sturgeon.
198806400	Kootenai River White Sturgeon Studies and Conservation Aquaculture	This project will compliment 198806400 by (1) providing a better understanding of factors influencing recruitment of white sturgeon and (2) providing an assessment of the capacity of altered environments to support white sturgeon.
199700900	Evaluate Potential Means of Rebuilding White Sturgeon Populations in the Snake River Between Lower Granite and Hells Canyon Dams	This project will compliment 199700900 by (1) providing a better understanding of factors influencing recruitment of white sturgeon and (2) providing an assessment of the capacity of altered environments to support white sturgeon.
199502700	Develop and Implement Recovery Plan for Depressed Lake Roosevelt White Sturgeon Populations	This project will compliment 199502700 by (1) providing a better understanding of factors influencing recruitment of white sturgeon and (2) providing an assessment of the capacity of altered environments to support white sturgeon.

Section 4. Budget for Planning and Design phase

Task-based budget

Objective	Task	Duration in FYs	Estimated 2003 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 2003 cost	Subcontractor
1. Determine ability of larval and juvenile white sturgeon to withstand food deprivation and to seek prey patches	a. Conduct laboratory experiments to determine when irreversible starvation occurs for first-feeding, one, two, and three month old white sturgeon	2	$75,045
1.	b. Conduct laboratory experiments to characterize larval and juvenile white sturgeon foraging behavior	2	$75,000
2. Determine if prey availability differs among areas with differing patterns of recruitment of white sturgeon.	a. Map riverbed substrates in larval and juvenile white sturgeon rearing areas to design an efficient invertebrate sampling program.	2	$53,000	Yes
2.	b. Compare availability of prey from areas with differing patterns of white sturgeon recruitment: 1) Below Bonneville Dam-- consistent recruitment, 2) John Day Reservoir--variable recruitment, and 3) Priest Rapids Reservoir--no recruitment.	4	$35,400
3. Compare and contrast the capability of selected river reaches to support white sturgeon by developing spatially explicit models of growth potential.	a. Establish spatial modeling framework within a Geographic Information System (GIS).	4	$10,000
3.	b. Develop a growth model.	4	$0
3.	c. Develop a foraging model.	4	$0
3.	d. Incorporate estimates of prey availability	4	$0
3.	e. Data integration and visualization	5	$0

Outyear objectives-based budget

Objective	Starting FY	Ending FY	Estimated cost
1. Determine ability of larval and juvenile white sturgeon to withstand food deprivation and to seek prey patches	2004	2004	$160,000
2. Compare availability of prey at locations with differing patterns of white sturgeon recruitment: 1) Below Bonneville Dam--consistent recruitment, 2) John Day Reservoir--variable recruitment, 3) Priest Rapids Reservoir--negligible recruitment	2004	2007	$670,000
3. Compare and contrast the capability of selected river reaches to support white sturgeon by developing spatially explicit models of growth potential.	2004	2007	$217,000

Outyear budgets for Construction and Implementation phase

FY 2004	FY 2005	FY 2006	FY 2007
$383,000	$328,000	$276,000	$60,000

Section 6. Budget for Operations and Maintenance phase

Task-based budget

Objective	Task	Duration in FYs	Estimated 2003 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 2003 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 2003 cost
Personnel	FTE: 2.8	$112,576
Fringe		$27,505
Supplies	Laboratory apparatus, field supplies	$9,500
Travel	Vehicles, boats, and per diem	$16,520
Indirect		$62,344
Subcontractor	Sidescan Sonar mosaic to map riverbed substrates	$20,000
		$248,445

Total estimated budget

Total FY 2003 cost	$248,445
Amount anticipated from previously committed BPA funds	$0
Total FY 2003 budget request	$248,445
FY 2003 forecast from 2002	$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.

REVIEW:
ISRP Preliminary Review (ISRP 2002-13)

Recommendation:
Fundable - no response required

Date:
Aug 2, 2002

Comment:

Fundable. This is a research proposal to investigate the influence of early feeding and food availability on survival and growth of juvenile white sturgeon (under the premise that juvenile survival establishes recruitment). The research would include laboratory studies of feeding behavior at the time feeding begins and shortly thereafter and survival/growth studies under starvation and various feeding levels. Prey availability in the field would be compared among three Columbia River zones with contrasting white sturgeon recruitment to see if differing prey availability matches differing recruitment: Lower Columbia (good recruitment), John Day pool (moderate and variable recruitment), and the Priest Rapids Dam pool (poor to no recruitment). A white sturgeon bioenergetic growth model would be constructed that would include spatial differences in order to predict the growth potential for juvenile white sturgeon throughout the region (where food availability information is available). The proposal recognizes that BPA's long-standing white sturgeon project (198605000) has moved away from research and into implementation, as was planned in the early 1980s. Thus, further research requires a new project.

The well-written proposal meets ISRP review criteria. The background section provides a scientifically sound rationale for the work, with abundant citations of relevant papers. There is an excellent discussion of regional rationale and significance of the proposed research, with citations and discussion of the goals of the Action Agencies' 5-year Implementation Plan for listed species, the Council's Fish and Wildlife Program (with which the proposal is consistent), and the white sturgeon program summary for the Mainstem/Systemwide province. Other white sturgeon projects are discussed including those funded by BPA in the basin and Canada and by non-federal organizations in the basin. The need for a new research project is persuasively presented, based on the planned evolution of the main BPA project (198605000) to implementation of management strategies designed to compensate for poor natural recruitment in much of the basin. The objectives, tasks, and methods are presented clearly and completely. The staff is well qualified. The research is one of monitoring and evaluation, and thus no separate function is needed (although this might have been discussed). A minor criticism of the proposal is its emphasis on main channel ecology, whereas the ISG in Return to the River indicated that off-channel and riparian habitats may be especially important for food production and juvenile feeding (the development of riparian vegetation also follows a gradient paralleling white sturgeon recruitment, with high and nearly normative conditions in the lower Columbia and little, if any, riparian development in Priest Rapids pool).

This proposal was not selected by the Action Agency/NMFS RME Work Group for further review.

REVIEW:
CBFWA Funding Recommendation

Recommendation:
High Priority

Date:
Oct 24, 2002

Comment:

White sturgeon upstream from Bonneville Dam are not listed as threatened, endangered, or sensitive; however, these populations have reduced productivity due to hydropower development. Some reservoirs upstream from Priest Rapids Dam no longer appear to support any reproduction. The project is complementary to planned restoration activities for white sturgeon conducted by states and tribes. Data provided will be useful in evaluation and interpretation of research and management activities involving release of hatchery and transplanted white sturgeon, interpreting reduced growth and recruitment in some reservoirs, and determining appropriate actions to restore reduced productivity (both planned and ongoing).

REVIEW:
ISRP Final Review (ISRP 2002-14)

Recommendation:
Fund

Date:
Nov 5, 2002

Comment:

Fundable. We agree with CBFWA's designation of the project as high priority. This is a research proposal to investigate the influence of early feeding and food availability on survival and growth of juvenile white sturgeon (under the premise that juvenile survival establishes recruitment). The research would include laboratory studies of feeding behavior at the time feeding begins and shortly thereafter and survival/growth studies under starvation and various feeding levels. Prey availability in the field would be compared among three Columbia River zones with contrasting white sturgeon recruitment to see if differing prey availability matches differing recruitment: Lower Columbia (good recruitment), John Day pool (moderate and variable recruitment), and the Priest Rapids Dam pool (poor to no recruitment). A white sturgeon bioenergetic growth model would be constructed that would include spatial differences in order to predict the growth potential for juvenile white sturgeon throughout the region (where food availability information is available). The proposal recognizes that BPA's long-standing white sturgeon project (198605000) has moved away from research and into implementation, as was planned in the early 1980s. Thus, further research requires a new project.

This well-written proposal meets ISRP review criteria. The background section provides a scientifically sound rationale for the work, with abundant citations of relevant papers. There is an excellent discussion of regional rationale and significance of the proposed research, with citations and discussion of the goals of the Action Agencies' 5-year Implementation Plan for listed species, the Council's Fish and Wildlife Program (with which the proposal is consistent), and the white sturgeon program summary for the Mainstem/Systemwide province. Other white sturgeon projects are discussed including those funded by BPA in the basin and Canada and by non-federal organizations in the basin. The need for a new research project is persuasively presented, based on the planned evolution of the main BPA project (198605000) to implementation of management strategies designed to compensate for poor natural recruitment in much of the basin. The objectives, tasks, and methods are presented clearly and completely. The staff is well qualified. The research is one of monitoring and evaluation, and thus no separate function is needed (although this might have been discussed). A minor criticism of the proposal is its emphasis on main channel ecology, whereas the ISG in Return to the River indicated that off-channel and riparian habitats may be especially important for food production and juvenile feeding (the development of riparian vegetation also follows a gradient paralleling white sturgeon recruitment, with high and nearly normative conditions in the lower Columbia and little, if any, riparian development in Priest Rapids pool).

REVIEW:
NMFS Review

Recommendation:

Date:
Jan 21, 2003

Comment:

Statement of Potential Biological Benefit

Comments
Not Reviewed

Already ESA Required?

Biop?
No

REVIEW:
NWPPC Funding Recommendation

Recommendation:
Do Not Fund (Tier 3)

Date:
Jun 11, 2003

Comment:

Category:
3. Other projects not recommended by staff

Comments: