Meeting notes from the Oregon/Northern California Coast TRT meeting

16 December 2003, 9am -- 4pm

Notes taken by: Kerrie Pipal

Attendees: TRT Members: Gordie Reeves, Tom Lisle, Chuck Huntington, Tom
Nickelson, Mike Rode, Greg Bryant, George Kautsky, Tom Wainwright, Walt
Duffy, Tommy Williams, Pete Lawson. Staff: Heather Stout, Rosemary
Furfey, Justin Mills, Kerrie Pipal.

The meeting was called to order at 9:15 am.

1\. Introductions.

2\. Minutes Approval, ONCC (Sept), Oregon Workgroup (Nov)

3\. Agenda Revision -- moved Rosemary's update to occur after SONCC
discussion.

4\. Discussion of SONCC population delineation method, results (Tommy
Williams).

-Tommy discussed updates to the Intrinsic Potential (IP) model,
including 1) combining Applegate and the Middle Rogue River to represent
a single unit, 2) counting Humboldt Bay tributaries as a single unit,
and 3) splitting the lower and upper Trinity River into separate units,
with the North Fork Trinity inclusive of the upper Trinity. Tommy
distributed plots using logit vs. Integrated IP values, along with a
corresponding table of IP values for SONCC basins. Tommy explained use
of the centroid method for use in the distance matrix for within basin
analysis. Tom Lisle suggested a different method for finding the center
of the 'best habitat' by using a plot (Cumulative IP vs. Distance from
River Mouth). Group agreed that using Tom L.'s 'width function' method
is worth exploring.

-Chuck Huntington is interested in knowing how stray rates are affected
by small vs. large basins as related to their distance from on another;
also, how direct an effect will river mouth to river mouth straying
function have on model accuracy? Justin Mills suggested that it might be
possible to include a factor on within-basin straying and its variance
between basins to try and further define gray areas present in the
model. Placement of the plot's vertical line was discussed, and Pete
Lawson recommended adding confidence bars to the vertical line. This
would allow an estimate of uncertainty. Tommy will add 50% confidence
bars to the plot and determine a break based on these. Tommy emphasized
that at this point, Eric (Bjorkstedt) needs well thought-out ideas to
incorporate into the model to increase efficiency when running and
re-running the model. Group agreed that model process should remain
simplified at this point and details could be added/investigated as the
model progresses.

Action Items:

a\. Tom L. will write up more information on the 'width function' method
for the

group to review.

b.  Recalculate the centroid for each basin.

c.  Tommy will add 50% confidence bars to vertical line on logit vs.
    Integrated IP plots.

Skipped to 11c on agenda

Coordination with State, outreach update, etc. -- Rosemary Furfey

-Rosemary will attend and present information at the next Oregon Coastal
Zone Management meeting. The Internal Domain Team has been formed. Four
meetings with the state have taken place to assess the development of
the Oregon plan. Plan strategy and process of how to form a stakeholder
group for recovery planning were major topics. The next meeting is in
mid-January. The second draft of the Recovery status and strategy report
is ready for review and comments. Draft is also being shared with the
Internal Domain Team and outside reviewers. Draft was distributed to TRT
for review.

6\. No public comments.

7\. Discussion of Oregon Workgroup population method, results,
Population Draft Document

-Tom Nickelson presented data and plots he used to determine Estimated
Potential Historical Abundance based on smolt counts (assuming 40%
harvest rate). Instead of using IP in his analysis, he used adult
abundance, as Estimated Potential Historical Abundance estimates were
similar when based on either catch or IP. Tom N. agreed to work with the
equation to try and find possible improvements. Chuck noted the need to
find citation support for some of the constants used in the equation.
Tom N. added confidence intervals around the vertical line (+/- 50%),
which affected 5 of the 46 basins.

Action Items:

a.  Tom N. will review the equation principles to look for further
    improvements.

b.  Chuck will review his library for citations supporting equation
    constants; he will pass any citations along to Tom N. Tom N. will
    keep the +/- 50% confidence lines around the vertical line.

Break for lunch.

Skipped to 11a on agenda

TRT Coordinator Update

-Tommy Williams and Gordie Reeves provided an update on the RSRP review
of the IP model from meetings taking place at Santa Cruz Lab earlier
this week. RSRP seemed to accept the use of the IP model and commented
on what other issues it might be applied to in the future. RSRP
identified IP as a tool that could be used in the restoration aspect
(Phase II) of recovery planning.

10\. TRT approval of Oregon Coast Coho Historical Populations or with
needed revisions (Heather Stout and Pete Lawson). Heather started
discussion on this draft document with a review of Figure B (p. 8 in
Figures section) -- "Conceptual model of ESU Population Structure."
Changes to the model included 1) emphasize that it is only representing
part of an ESU, and 2) improve the figure's caption by adding additional
details and explanation. Group discussed using the term 'persistence' in
the draft document. Most of group feels that the document should be more
consistent in its wording and referencing. Group is generally
comfortable with the methods and figures presented in the document.

Action Items:

a.  Heather and Pete will make changes to Figure B (should emphasis that
    figure represents only part of an ESU and improve caption).

b.  Heather will make revisions to the Table on populations (add
    vertical lines to split the two sides and change to abbreviations --
    FI, PI, D).

c.  Tommy will send Heather an email copy of the SONCC document for
    table comparison.

d.  Tom N. and Tom Wainwright will discuss the usage of the term
    'persistence' and determine its appropriateness in reference to the
    horizontal axis. They will send the group an email after this matter
    is further discussed.

e.  Tommy will re-post several documents on Docushare (working paper
    written by TRT chairs regarding use of Viable Salmonid Populations
    in 'real world' situations, plus relevant papers by Eric Bjorkstedt
    and Steve Lindley).

f.  Oregon work group will meet on Dec 22 (9am at ODFW) to further
    discuss and review the draft document.

g.  TRT members should complete document review and forward all
    revisions and suggestions to Heather ASAP (preferably by Dec 22).

h.  Tommy to check if one or two documents are required for the 2 ESU's.

i.  Pete suggested the final deadline for the document (before being
    released to the public) could be changed to the end of February
    2004.

11b. Oregon Coast Coho Critical Habitat Analysis -- Using the Decision
Support System (DSS). Justin Mills presented his work on ranking 5^th^
field watersheds included in the Oregon Coast ESU using DSS. Results are
still considered in DRAFT format. Justin is nearing completion on his
final review of the results.

12\. Other TRT Business.

13\. Review Tasks.

14\. Schedule Future Meetings (OR Workgroup = Dec 22, next TRT mtg =
March?)

15\. No public comments.

16\. Adjourn (4:15pm)