This is the second follow-up review to an earlier ISRP and Council review of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission’s Accord Proposal: Influence of Environment and Landscape on Salmonid Genetics, 2009-005-00. The information gained from this proposal is intended to facilitate understanding of adaptation of natural salmonid populations to their environment. CRITFC believes this information should benefit future management of natural, supplemented, and reintroduced populations.
Overall, this is the ISRP’s fourth review related to this project. The ISRP’s earlier reviews are described in the ISRP’s latest review, which is attached below (ISRP 2010-21; June 18, 2010). In that review we stated, "This revised proposal is an improvement on the original but still does not have the level of detail essential for technical review (see comments below). Additionally, the revision did not provide a point-by-point response to the individual issues raised by the ISRP in the February 19, 2009 review. If a subsequent proposal is developed, in addition to a revised narrative, the ISRP requests that the proponents provide a document that succinctly responds to the individual points raised by the ISRP."
In addition, at the request of the Bonneville Power Administration, the ISRP participated in a teleconference with Shawn Narum, the project’s principal investigator, on September 7, 2010.
Recommendation: Meets Scientific Review Criteria (Qualified)
The first qualification on this proposal is a caveat to Council, BPA and CRITFC that while it is likely possible to identify some of the genes that are important for adaptation of salmon and steelhead to the Columbia River environment, deliberately manipulating breeding populations to improve fitness as recovery actions proceed does not have established implementation protocols. The proposed work is justified as research, but the ISRP is unconvinced that it is currently useful for management application.
The second qualification is for the project proponents to consider the suggestions the ISRP offers below. The proponents can address these as appropriate in future reviews. The ISRP is not anticipating a response to address the comments and suggestions at this time
