At the Council’s April 19, 2011 request, the ISRP reviewed a response from the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission for an Accord project titled, Tribal Pacific Lamprey Restoration Plan Implementation (2008-524-00). This project has undergone several ISRP reviews. In the most recent review, the ISRP provided specific recommendations on each proposal objective (ISRP 2010-16). This review concerns only proposal Objective 3, Task 3B, Subtask (i) to plan, prioritize, and implement mainstem juvenile lamprey habitat inventories. As part of this task, CRITFC intends to collaborate and share resources with USGS, USFWS and others. The ISRP requested that a separate proposal be developed for this task.
The ISRP ‘s review states that the proponents make the valid point that little is known about juvenile lamprey abundance and habitat use in the Willamette River even though the Willamette supports one of the largest populations of lamprey in the Columbia Basin and is an important fishery for Native Americans. The proponents appear qualified to conduct the research based on their past work with lamprey and reports and peer reviewed publications. The proponents have provided further details on methods to reach the objective above and have modified the original "plan to develop a plan" to a "pilot" project that should enable the study to move forward. The ISRP believes that gaining an improved understanding of lamprey ammocoete distribution, abundance, and habitat selection is justified, even essential, to provide the information to guide fish and wildlife actions in support of lamprey.
The general design of the proposal is sound; however, there are significant questions mostly concerning details of the sampling design and procedures that require clarification. Consequently, the ISRP requests another response.
