The Council invites public comment on the this review of 15 proposals submitted in response to Bonneville Power Administration's March 14, 2003 Request for Studies (RFS) intended to address research, monitoring, and evaluation requirements under Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA) Actions 182 and 184 of the NOAA Fisheries' 2000 Biological Opinion (BiOp) on the Operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS). The RFS was needed to fill research needs for the BiOp that are not actively being addressed through the Bonneville Power Administration's current implementation program.
Specifically:
- RPA Action 182: determine the relative reproductive success of hatchery-origin and natural origin anadromous salmonids in the Columbia Basin, and
- RPA Action 184: 1) synthesize an analytical approach to determine the effects of hatchery reforms on extinction risk and recovery of threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia River Basin; and 2) determine the reproductive success of natural-origin, hatchery-origin, and reconditioned kelt steelhead.
The ISRP report and analysis by the Action Agencies' Hatchery/Harvest Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Subgroup pointed out that, for many of the proposals, the decisions on whether to fund would be greatly enhanced by increased information; consequently, on May 14, 2003, Bonneville sent a letter to the project sponsors offering an opportunity to respond to the questions and comments raised in the technical reviews. Project sponsor responses received by Bonneville addressing the technical reviews will automatically be included as comments to the Council.
This is the third in a series of 2003 ISRP reviews associated with NOAA Fisheries and the Federal Columbia River Power System Action Agencies' (Bonneville Power Administration, Corps of Engineers, and Bureau of Reclamation) Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation (RME) effort.
