At the Council staff's request, Steve Schroder, ISRP Chair, provided initial impressions on responses to the Council’s Request for Information about White Sturgeon (RFI). The memo is based on three reviewers’ impressions, so this should not be considered a full ISRP review.
The Council released the RFI on January 13, 2017 and received seven responses from six entities by the RFI’s February 28, 2017 deadline. Through the RFI, the Council and Bonneville asked sturgeon managers and researchers to submit information (1 to 3 pages) for one or more of the following activities:
- Conduct white sturgeon population status assessments in the lower Snake or Columbia rivers.
- Assess white sturgeon spawning habitat availability and use in the lower Snake or Columbia rivers.
- Pilot the feasibility of sampling and enumerating white sturgeon larva abundance in the lower Snake or Columbia rivers.
- Assess the magnitude and extent of sturgeon predation below Bonneville Dam.
The seven responses, together, proposed potential studies that would address each of these four activities. Three ISRP reviewers evaluated the responses and provided initial impressions on what potential benefits the responses might offer and what information is needed in a full proposal to justify the potential actions.
