At the Council’s December 21, 2009 request, the ISRP reviewed a BiOp proposal titled "Understanding the influence of predation by introduced fishes on juvenile salmonids in the Columbia River Basin: Closing some knowledge gaps" (2008-719-00). This proposal is intended to meet research needs described in the 2008 Biological Opinion for the Federal Columbia River Power System (BiOp), specifically, Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA) 44: develop strategies to reduce non-indigenous fish. In addition, the Obama Administration’s Adaptive Management Implementation Plan (AMIP; page 18) calls for enhanced research on salmon predators and invasive species. The proposal also attempts to address several important research issues that the ISAB and others have recently recommended. However, as the proposal is currently written, it lacks the necessary documentation and detail to meet scientific review criteria.
Consequently, the ISRP recommends that the proposal should be re-submitted after the rationale for the study has been more thoroughly crafted; appropriate literature reviewed and used; study designs for the four objectives well defined; and methods explicitly described (including specific sample locations, sample sizes, and statistical methods used to test hypotheses and analyze data).
