FY 2000 proposal 199702400

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
199702400 Narrative	Narrative
199702400 Sponsor Response to the ISRP	Response

Section 1. Administrative

Proposal title	Avian Predation on Juvenile Salmonids in the Lower Columbia River
Proposal ID	199702400
Organization	Oregon State University/Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (OSU/CRITFC)
Proposal contact person or principal investigator
Name	Dr. Daniel D. Roby
Mailing address	OCFWRU, 104 Nash Hall, Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 97331-3803
Phone / email	5417371955 / robyd@ucs.orst.edu
Manager authorizing this project
Review cycle	FY 2000
Province / Subbasin	Mainstem/Systemwide / Systemwide
Short description	Monitor and evaluate the efficacy of management initiatives to reduce predation by colonial waterbirds on juvenile salmonids in the lower Columbia River. Assist resource managers in the development of a long-term avian predation management plan.
Target species	Columbia Basin salmonids, Caspian terns, double-crested cormorants, gull spp.

Project location

Latitude	Longitude	Description

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
1996	Identify the locations and population size of major piscivorous waterbird colonies on the lower Columbia River
1996	Recover PIT tags from the Rice Island Caspian tern colony in the Columbia River Estuary
1997	Determine the population size and trajectory of nine piscivorous waterbird colonies on the lower Columbia River.
1997	Determine the diet composition of nine piscivorous waterbird colonies on the lower Columbia River.
1997	Recover PIT tags from the Rice Island Caspian tern colony in the Columbia River Estuary
1997	Use a bioenergetics approach to estimate the total number of juvenile salmonids consumed by the Rice Island Caspian tern colony.
1998	Verify estimates of predation on juvenile salmonids by Caspian terns nesting on Rice Island.
1998	Use a bioenergetics approach to estimate the total number of juvenile salmonids consumed by double-crested cormorants nesting in the Columbia River Estuary.
1998	Collect information on the distribution, foraging range, and habitat utilization of Caspian terns in the Columbia River Estuary.
1998	Monitor selected upriver piscivorous waterbird colonies to monitor changes in population size and diet composition.
1998	Test the feasibility of methods to relocate the Caspian tern colony to a new nesting location as a means to reduce their impact on survival of juvenile salmonids.
1998	Recover PIT tags at the Rice Island tern and cormorant colonies and the Crescent Island Caspian tern colony.

Section 3. Relationships to other projects

Project ID	Title	Description
9008000	Columbia Basin PIT Tag Information System	Recovery of PIT tag codes from piscivorous waterbird colonies to be included in the PTAGIS database
9600800	PATH	Estimates of smolt losses to birds can be included in mainstem passage models to estimate juvenile salmonid survival

Section 4. Budget for Planning and Design phase

Task-based budget

Objective	Task	Duration in FYs	Estimated 2000 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 2000 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 2000 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 2000 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 2000 cost
Personnel	1 Post Doc, 2 Masters students, 5 field technicians	$92,700
Fringe		$16,800
Supplies	radio tags (2 studies), switchers/antennas, doubly-labeled water	$86,900
Operating	aerial photos, vehicles, two field offices, telemetry flight time, tuition	$89,600
Capital	radio-telemetry receivers	$60,000
Travel		$9,500
Indirect		$69,900
Subcontractor	CRITFC	$217,200
		$642,600

Total estimated budget

Total FY 2000 cost	$642,600
Amount anticipated from previously committed BPA funds	$0
Total FY 2000 budget request	$642,600
FY 2000 forecast from 1999	$0
% change from forecast	0.0%

Cost sharing

Organization	Item or service provided	Amount	Cash or in-kind
USACE	Provided funds in 1999. Obligated funds in 2000?	$0	unknown
USFWS	Provided funds in 1999. Obligated funds in 2000?	$0	unknown
NMFS	Provided funds in 1999. Obligated funds in 2000?	$0	unknown

Other budget explanation

Schedule Constraints: The implementation of a management plan to reduce predation by piscivorous waterbirds on juvenile salmonids will depend on decisions made by the Interagency Avian Predation Working Group comprised of regional fish and wildlife managers and stakeholders.

Reviews and recommendations

This information was not provided on the original proposals, but was generated during the review process.

REVIEW:
ISRP Preliminary Review (ISRP 99-2)

Recommendation:
Fund in part

Date:
Jun 15, 1999

Comment:

Recommendation: Fund in part at FY99 level pending full review of results to date, expansion of the project is not sufficiently supported in the proposal. They should focus the research on managed and unmanaged Caspian Tern populations.

Comments: This proposal is well written, thorough and builds logically on past work, assuming that past results are supported through peer review. The reporting of previous work is inadequate (especially in peer-reviewed publications) and may not warrant expansion of this already large contract. For example, how accurately can the population size and productivity of a colony be measured? This aspect of the study is not described or documented and would clearly effect the ability to assess management actions. Having said this, however, the need for this basic work is well described and supported, and early results appear encouraging. The need for the proposed expansion of the research (monitoring of predation in additional bird colonies) is less convincing. The proposed work is very extensive and it is doubtful that it can all be successfully delivered in the timeframe identified.

In particular, we were concerned about various budgetary aspects of the proposal: How does or will their research interface with other predation-oriented proposed work? Why is the budget so large in 2000 as compared to previous years? Why is BPA now expected to fund the entire project as compared to previous years? In Task 2.1, the proposal states that "[populations] targeted for management in FY00 will be monitored if it is determined that….". What if it is not determined? What happens to dollars that would otherwise be allocated to such monitoring activities? Too much money seems proposed for expenditure on aerial surveys of foraging behavior. Are these really needed? Are they of high priority?

While we agree that the subject of this proposal is of high priority, we recommend an in-depth independent peer-review be conducted to evaluate the results and conclusions generated from this project before proceeding with what would be potentially a very costly expansion of this work. The highest priority for immediate research should be on assessing managed and unmanaged Caspian tern populations.

REVIEW:
CBFWA Funding Recommendation

Recommendation:
Fund

Date:
Aug 20, 1999

Comment:

REVIEW:
CBFWA: Fish Passage Advisory Committee Comments

Recommendation:

Date:
Aug 20, 1999

Comment:

Technical Criteria 1: Met? Yes -

Programmatic Criteria 2: Met? Inc - Given the wide variability associated with the estimate of the impact of the bird predation, is it likely that a quantifiable change in mortality can be demonstrated by this study?

Milestone Criteria 3: Met? Yes -

Resource Criteria 4: Met? Inc - Budget seems somewhat high.

REVIEW:
ISRP Final Review (ISRP 99-4)

Recommendation:
Fund

Date:
Oct 29, 1999

Comment:

Fund. The proposal and response justify 3 years of funding to complete the proposal. In 2002, there should be a comprehensive review of the management actions taken.

This was originally a strong proposal but the ISRP expressed concerns about the rate of expansion of management actions and studies proposed. This response is again well presented, objective, and continues to demonstrate strong administration and a focused scientific basis for this work. The authors argue that studies and actions on multiple species is appropriate due to the linkages between these species (i.e., controlling one species may simply provide increased predation opportunities for another). The ISRP acknowledges this and can support the proposal as presented so long as the scope of the work remains achievable. The project, however, is well integrated within the Basin and the Inter-Agency workgroup should be responsible to monitor the progress of this work.

REVIEW:
NWPPC Funding Recommendation

Recommendation:
Fund

Date:
Nov 8, 1999

Comment:

REVIEW:
NWPPC Funding Recommendation (NWPPC 2000-6)

Recommendation:
Fund

Date:
Mar 1, 2000

Comment:

[Decision made in 11-3-99 Council Meeting];

REVIEW:
NW Power and Conservation Council's FY 2006 Project Funding Review

Funding category:
expense

Date:
May 2005

FY05 NPCC start of year:	FY06 NPCC staff preliminary:	FY06 NPCC July draft start of year:
$250,000	$470,000	$470,000

Sponsor comments: See comment at Council's website