Independent Scientific Review Panel

for the Northwest Power Planning Council

851 SW 6th Avenue, Suite 1100 

Portland, Oregon 97204 

isrp@nwppc.org

Review 

of 

Fiscal Year 2002 

Innovative Proposals 

for the 

Columbia River Basin 

Fish and Wildlife Program

ISRP 2002-8 

May 24, 2002 
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

ISRP and PRG Reviewers

Charles C. Coutant 

Jack Griffith 

Susan S. Hanna 

Nancy Huntly 

Lyman McDonald 

John D. McIntyre 

Phillip Mundy 

Brian Riddell 

William Smoker 

Bruce Ward

Richard R. Whitney 

Richard N. Williams

Staff

Erik Merrill
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

ISRP Review of Fiscal Year 2002 Innovative Proposals

Contents 

Table of Proposals with Page Index................................................................................. ii

17 Ranked Proposals.......................................................................................................... ii

Unranked Proposals........................................................................................................... iv

Background................................................................................................................................ 1

ISRP Recommendations and Comments on Each Proposal Submitted ............ 2

Overall Results...................................................................................................................... 2

17 Ranked Proposals.......................................................................................................... 3

Unranked Proposals.......................................................................................................... 19

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

Table of Proposals with Page Index 

The ISRP found that 17 proposals met the innovative criteria, described 

scientifically sound techniques, and offered potential benefits to fish and wildlife. 

These 17 ranked proposals are presented first by rank order and project ID. The 

remaining 20 unranked proposals are presented next. For a variety of reasons, these 

proposals did not provide adequate justification for funding under the innovative 

solicitation.

17 Ranked Proposals 

Project 

ID 

Title Sponsor Province,

Subbasin 

Budget 

Request

Rank Page

34008 Use a Multi-Watershed Approach to 

Increase the Rate of Learning from

Columbia Basin Watershed Restoration

Projects 

ESSA 

Technologies

Ltd. 

Systemwide $199,764 1 3

34019 Evaluate the Effects of Hyporheic 

Discharge on Egg Pocket Water 

Temperature in Snake River Fall Chinook 

Salmon Spawning Areas 

Pacific 

Northwest 

National 

Laboratory

Blue Mountain,

Snake Hells 

Canyon

$196,299 1 4

34022 Evaluate the population structure of

chinook salmon by combining inferences 

from ecological, demographic, and 

molecular genetic analysis 

USDA Forest 

Service Rocky 

Mountain

Research 

Station 

Mountain Snake, 

Salmon 

$199,957 1 5

34021 Using stable isotope ratios to explore 

positive or negative impacts of American

shad on salmon and the aquatic

community in the Columbia River 

U.S. Geological

Survey 

Lower Columbia, 

Columbia Lower

$181,249 4 6

34036 Development and Demonstration of

Automatic Calibration Tools for Models

to Assess Biological Performance of

Habitat Restoration Strategies 

Pacific 

Northwest 

National 

Laboratory

Systemwide $199,865 5 6

34002 Evaluate Spawning Protocols and the 

Reproductive Success of Salmonids in 

Hatcheries 

University of 

Washington

Systemwide $197,799 6 7

34001 Pilot Study: Spatial and Temporal 

Occurrence of Salmonid Pathogens in the 

Upper Middle Mainstem Subbasin of the 

Columbia Cascade Province 

Washington

State University

Columbia 

Cascade, 

Columbia Upper 

Middle 

$199,461 7 8

34030 Enhancing Instream Flow by Adopting

Best Agricultural Management Practices 

Washington

State University

Blue Mountain,

Asotin

$199,312 8 9

ii
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

Project 

ID 

Title Sponsor Province,

Subbasin 

Budget 

Request

Rank Page

34027 Controlling the Distribution of American

Shad (Alosa sapidissima) with Pulsed

Ultrasound Near Fish Ladders and at a

Sluiceway Entrance 

Pacific 

Northwest 

National 

Laboratory

Systemwide $200,000 9 10

34004 Develop Computational Fluid Dynamics 

Model to Predict Total Dissolved Gas 

Below Spillways 

ENSR 

International, 

Inc.

Systemwide $225,077

(Sponsor 

said proposal

could meet

$200K cap)

10 11

34010 Visualization Tools for Information

Discovery and Decision Support 

Pacific 

Northwest 

National 

Laboratory/Batt

elle 

Systemwide $199,867 11 12

34026 Studying the Impacts of Dam Passage on

the Vestibular System in Fish 

Pacific 

Northwest 

National 

Laboratory

Systemwide $195,850 12 13

34023 Laboratory, Prototype, and Field 

Evaluation of Undershot Horizontal Fish

Screen in the Hood River Basin

Confederated 

Tribes of the 

Warm Springs 

Reservation of

Oregon and 

Farmers 

Irrigation 

District 

Columbia Gorge, 

Hood

$187,004 13 14

34035 Chinook Salmon Abundance Monitoring

Using an Acoustic Camera 

Pacific 

Northwest 

National 

Laboratory

Mountain Snake, 

Salmon 

$146,900 14 14

34017 Low-Cost Thermal Imaging System for 

Aerial Remote Sensing Applications

Smart Mao 

Imaging 

Systemwide $115,674 15 15

34005 Application of DNA Fingerprinting 

Microarrays and Semi-Automated Data

Analysis Methods for Salmonid Stock 

Identification in the Columbia Basin

Pacific 

Northwest 

National 

Laboratory

Systemwide $200,000 16 16

34029 Geomorphic Controls on Salmonid 

Spawning Habitat in Mountain Drainage

Basins of the Pacific Northwest 

University of 

Idaho, USDA

Forest Service 

Rocky 

Mountain

Research 

Station 

Systemwide $199,953 17 17

iii
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

Unranked Proposals 

Project 

ID 

Title Sponsor Province,

Subbasin 

Budget 

Request

Page 

34003 Salmon Run Generator (SRG). Autek LLC Systemwide $198,500 19 

34006 Assess Salmon Carcass NutrientMacroinvertebrate-Avian Relationships in

Riparian Ecosystems of the Yakima

Subbasin 

Northwest Habitat 

Institute 

Columbia Plateau, 

Yakima

$184,280 19

34007 New Life for dead stream Baker Valley Irrigation

District 

Middle Snake, 

Powder

$41,565 20

34009 Net Pen Rearing Spring Chinook in Lake

Osoyoos 

Confederated Tribes of 

the Colville 

Reservation

Columbia 

Cascade, 

Okanogan 

$199,000 21

34011 Western Painted Turtle Habitat 

Restoration Project

Portland's 

Environmental

Services 

Lower Columbia, 

Willamette 

$58,417 21

34012 Sponsor A Smolt Methow Salmon

Recovery Foundation 

Columbia 

Cascade, Methow 

$58,061 22

34013 Restore Ecological Structure and Function

to Grays Lake Using Decision Support

System

U.S. Geological

Survey - Biological 

Resources Division, 

Northern Rocky 

Mountain Science 

Center 

Upper Snake, 

Headwaters 

$200,000 22

34014 Assessing Potential Biological and 

Toxicological Effects of Parental Transfer

of Environmental Contaminants to White 

Sturgeon in the Columbia River 

Oregon State 

University 

Systemwide $199,000 23

34015 Neotropical Migratory Bird Habitat 

Restoration Project

Portland's 

Environmental

Services 

Lower Columbia, 

Willamette 

$197,320 23

iv
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

Project 

ID 

Title Sponsor Province,

Subbasin 

Budget 

Request

Page 

34016 Behavioral Motivation in the Evaluation 

of Culvert Designs for Juvenile Salmonid

Passage 

Pacific Northwest 

National Laboratory

Marine Sciences 

Laboratory

Systemwide $199,989 24

34018 Evaluate Engineering Conceptual Design

and Field Application of Pisces Fish

Passage Unit 

Watershed

Professionals Network,

llc (WPN) 

Systemwide $194,864 24

34020 Fish Behavioral Guidance Through Water 

Velocity Modification PHASE ONE 

Natural Solutions Systemwide $222,586

(Sponsor said 

proposal

could meet

$200K cap)

25 

34024 Integrating remote sensing and

topographic indicies to detect the impact 

of invasive species on critical winter elk 

forage areas 

Confederated Tribes of 

the Umatilla Indian

Reservation

Columbia Plateau, 

Umatilla 

$133,677 29

34025 Assess role of estuarine habitat in

maintaining chinook salmon life history 

diversity in the Columbia River using

remote PIT tag monitoring systems 

Oregon State 

University 

Columbia Estuary, 

Mainstem

Columbia 

$196,853 30

34028 Innovative Technologies for Mapping

Large Woody Debris and Assessing Fish

Distribution 

Battelle Marine

Sciences Laboratory 

Columbia Estuary, 

Mainstem

Columbia 

$172,358 30

34031 Biological and Economic Feasibility of

Reintroducing Fishwheels to the

Columbia River System

Steward and 

Associates 

Lower Columbia, 

Cowlitz 

$260,525

(Sponsor 

resubmitted

for $199,945)

31 

34032 Otolith Marking using Portable Mist 

Incubation 

Alaska Resource & 

Economic

Development, Inc.

Columbia Estuary, 

Grays 

$121,952 32

34033 Demonstrate novel methods of mist

incubation and mechanical egg planting in

salmon restoration. 

Alaska Resource & 

Economic

Development, Inc.

Systemwide $199,991 33

34034 High-Speed Fish Screen for Irrigation 

Diversion 

West Extension 

Irrigation District 

Columbia Plateau, 

John Day 

$200,000 33

34037 Analysis of alternative hatchery and

fishery configurations in the Columbia 

River Basin

S.P. Cramer and 

Associates 

Systemwide $67,200 34

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

ISRP Review of Fiscal Year 2002 Innovative Proposals 

Background 

The Council created the innovative solicitation, in part, to address ISRP recommendations from

past reviews that the Council establish a special funding category to encourage innovative 

projects. The Council committed to do this and over the past several years has established a 

funding mechanism for innovative projects with the goal to improve knowledge, encourage 

creative thinking, and directly benefit fish and wildlife. For the Fiscal Year (FY) 1999 funding 

cycle, the Council identified three topics of special interest for which a solicitation and contracts 

were issued. For FY 2000, 12 projects were recommended for funding out of 42 projects ranked 

by the ISRP (these projects were submitted under the standard solicitation and received an ISRP 

elevated ranking for funding above CBFWA’s tier 2 or 3 recommendations). For FY 2001,

Bonneville and the Council created a specific solicitation for innovative fish and wildlife project 

proposals with a budget of $2 million. The FY 2001 call for proposals requested work on nutrient 

supplementation and innovative harvest techniques, and limited budgets to $400,000. 66 

proposals were submitted that in total requested almost $20 million. The ISRP ranked these 

proposals and the Council recommended funding for nine projects at just over $2 million. For the 

status of funded “innovative” projects see www.nwcouncil.org/innovative/. 

For the FY 2002 solicitation under consideration in this report, BPA allocated up to $2 million for 

innovative projects. As with the FY 2001 solicitation, innovative projects were defined as those 

which rely primarily on a method or technology that (1) has not previously been used in a fish or 

wildlife projects in the Pacific Northwest, or (2) although used in other projects, has not 

previously been used in an application of this kind. 

In addition, the solicitation letter specified that: 

1. Proposals cannot exceed a total request for Bonneville funding of $200,000. 

2. Proposals need to be consistent with the Council’s Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife 

Program. 

3. Proposals should be for innovative ideas and experimental methods to be tested as pilot 

projects rather than full-scale projects. For this reason, the duration of innovative projects 

should be limited to a maximum of 18 months. Exceptions to this time constraint may be 

considered under limited circumstances and require Council approval before the project is 

recommended for funding. 

4. Cost-sharing is allowed, as long as it is consistent with the Program and does not generate in 

lieu funding situations, that is, situations in which Bonneville funding would replace an 

existing project or program or displace the mitigation responsibilities of another entity or 

person legally required to undertake the measure. 

5. In some cases, out-of-basin settings provide a better or more cost-effective field site for 

testing new techniques and ideas than within-basin locations. Under these conditions, and 

where research results are directly relevant to Columbia River Basin problems, it may be 

fully appropriate to fund research projects in outside-the-basin locations. 

The five elements above are responsive to the ISRP’s FY 2001 review recommendations that the 

solicitation be focused on low cost, short term, pilot studies. For further details on the process see 

the solicitation letter at www.cbfwa.org/reviewforms/innovative/letter.pdf.

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

ISRP Recommendations and Comments on Each Proposal 

Submitted 

Overall Results 

Thirty-seven proposals were submitted for the FY2002 solicitation requesting about $6.5 million. 

Several ISRP and Peer Review Group reviewers evaluated each proposal and provided comments 

and rough ranks for group discussion at the ISRP’s project evaluation meeting. Determining 

whether a proposal is “innovative” can be difficult; consequently, the ISRP reviewed all the 

proposals for their technical merit and potential to contribute benefits to fish and wildlife. At the 

meeting, the ISRP discussed each proposal and reached consensus recommendations and 

rankings. 

The ISRP found that 17 proposals met the innovative criteria, described scientifically sound 

techniques, and offered potential benefits to fish and wildlife. Of the 17, the top five proposals, 

and especially the top three tied for first, stood-out as proposals that are high priority meriting 

immediate funding. The proposals ranked from 6 to 12 also offered potentially valuable 

contributions to the Fish and Wildlife Program. Those ranked from 13 to 17 met the review 

criteria but did not demonstrate as strong a potential to provide significant benefits as the top 12.

These 17 ranked proposals are presented below by rank order and project ID. 

 

The ISRP did not rank the other 20 proposals submitted. For a variety of reasons, these proposals 

did not provide adequate justification for funding under the innovative solicitation. A few of these 

proposals were not innovative but offered approaches that could benefit the Fish and Wildlife 

Program. Several others were innovative but were not technically sound or did not demonstrate 

benefits to fish and wildlife. Most were neither innovative nor technically sound. Comments and 

recommendations on these 20 proposals are presented following the 17 ranked proposals. 

Many of the proposals submitted for this solicitation were submitted in previous solicitations and 

subsequently improved. In fact, five of the top ten ranked proposals had been submitted and 

reviewed before. The high quality of and demonstrated need for some of these proposals are 

evidence of the value of this funding category.

Several proposals requested more than the $200,000 specified for an innovative grant. The ISRP 

reviewed these proposals with the same scrutiny provided to other proposals. Preliminary

contacts with the project sponsors indicate that they could readily bring the proposals under the 

$200,000 cap. The ISRP makes no recommendation whether these proposals should be 

disqualified for not meeting the budget cap with their initial submittal. 

Project sponsors should be aware of the opportunity to submit proposals or revised proposals for 

the Mainstem/Systemwide Solicitation, www.cbfwa.org/reviewforms/systemwide/default.htm. 

Proposals are due June 3, 2002. 

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

17 Ranked Proposals 

Rank 1 

ProjectID: 34008 

Use a Multi-Watershed Approach to Increase the Rate of Learning from Columbia Basin 

Watershed Restoration Projects

Sponsor: ESSA Technologies Ltd. 

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $199,764 

Short Description: Compile and compare data from habitat restoration projects in multiple 

watersheds to enhance the rate of learning about effects of restoration actions on fish populations, 

optimize the design of future restoration programs and improve monitoring. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

This number one ranked proposal is innovative and needed. Excellent detail is provided in each 

section. The project has a high probability of contributing benefit to fish and wildlife. It proposes 

to use existing information to generate understanding of the relation between fish and habitat 

needed to guide salmonid restoration programs. It addresses statistical challenges explicitly. Even 

the first step, simple systematic gathering of background information, will be of value. Reviewers 

strongly support this proposal for much-needed work that will be of value basinwide. 

Because project planning and implementation in the Basin has taken place at a local level, the 

benefits to fish may also be local. This project is an attempt to look at the problem at higher 

scales (watersheds or multiple watersheds), using available information, to assess the habitat 

needs at the scales relevant to fish populations or metapopulations. Specifically, the proponents 

propose to systematically look at current projects in multiple watersheds, take an inventory of 

actions taken and information collected, and explore the opportunities to make betweenwatershed comparisons to enhance learning and improve the design of current and future 

restoration actions. This is an innovative, viable alternative and more design based approach to 

evaluation of habitat improvement and watershed restoration techniques than is the expert system

and model based approach in EDT. The ISRP recommends funding this cost-effective, innovative 

pilot project to provide an independent check on evaluation of watershed restoration procedures. 

We agree with the proponents that “...an exploration of multi-watershed approaches to testing 

tributary restoration hypotheses, using both actual data from existing projects and potential data 

from future projects, can act as a catalyst to improving Columbia Basin tributary restoration 

programs.” 

The proposal is improved from last year’s submittal that ranked 13 out of 66. This version is on a 

more appropriate scale with more of a workshop approach than the previously submitted 

proposal. The PIs are well qualified, and clearly have a grasp of Fish and Wildlife Program issues 

and the contents of ISRP reports. The sponsor demonstrates understanding of the role of 

experimental design, randomization, sampling units, etc. that is required in order to compare

alternatives in watershed restoration projects.

3
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

Rank 1

ProjectID: 34019 

Evaluate the Effects of Hyporheic Discharge on Egg Pocket Water Temperature in Snake River 

Fall Chinook Salmon Spawning Areas

Sponsor: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Province: Blue Mountain Subbasin: Snake Hells Canyon 

FY02 Request: $196,299 

Short Description: Evaluate the relationships among river discharge, hyporheic zone 

characteristics, and egg pocket water temperature in Snake River fall chinook salmon spawning 

areas; evaluate the potential for improving Snake River fall chinook salmon smolt survival 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

This number one ranked proposal is innovative, very well written, technically sound, and high 

priority. If the project was successful, it could provide very substantial gains for Snake River fall 

chinook and the water budget. The proposal was favorably reviewed in the Blue Mountain 

provincial review and is improved from that submittal. The innovative aspect of this proposal is 

the potential application of results to reservoir management. 

Summer flow augmentation to benefit downstream migrating fall chinook has been a contentious 

issue within the basin. The investigators hypothesize that extending the period of stable flows 

below the Hell’s Canyon complex (now 10 to 20 days in December) well into the egg incubation 

period could provide more favorable conditions for incubation and decrease the time required for 

the eggs to hatch. Earlier emergence would make it possible for juvenile fall chinook to migrate 

downstream sooner than they currently do and thus enter the Snake River reservoirs earlier in the 

summer, when water temperatures and stream flows are more beneficial for survival. This change 

in migration timing could reduce the need for summer flow augmentation. A clear and reasonable 

line of logic backs the proposal. 

However, it is uncertain if the two weeks earlier emergence would necessarily equate to two 

weeks earlier initiation of migration. If research documents this chain of events and timings, what 

is Idaho Power’s commitment to managing Hells Canyon Dam/Complex to achieve this end? 

The proposal describes a good relationship to regional planning documents. The proposal 

includes good involvement and cost share from Idaho Power Company and USFWS, which is an 

improvement from the Blue Mountain submittal. The proposal also notes cooperation from Idaho 

Power in manipulating discharge levels in concert with study objectives during Phase I (this 

proposal) and the planned Phase II follow-up (next proposal). Regarding the two phases, the 

authors have complied with the time frame and cost limits suggested for the Innovative 

Solicitation. Phase I is described as a pilot study but it does have follow-up plans (Phase II) that 

are very logical extensions of the pilot. 

The objectives are clear and sufficient detail is presented in the Methods section to assess 

technical competency. The investigators are exceptionally well qualified to conduct this work. 

Both PI’s have extensive experience in this area of research as well as familiarity with the study 

site and study organism. Both have an excellent publication record to support that work. 

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

Rank 1

ProjectID: 34022 

Evaluate the population structure of chinook salmon by combining inferences from ecological,

demographic, and molecular genetic analysis

Sponsor: USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station 

Province: Mountain Snake Subbasin: Salmon 

FY02 Request: $199,957 

Short Description: Identify population structure of indigenous chinook salmon in the Middle 

Fork Salmon River from patterns of genetic variation indicated by microsatellite DNA markers 

and spatio-temporal patterns of spawning habitat utilization 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments: 

This number one ranked proposal is fundable, innovative, technically sound, and of high priority.

This excellent proposal offers an innovative use of recent developments in analysis of molecular 

genetic markers (microsatellites) to define spatial and temporal patterns of genetic variability 

among spawning aggregations of chinook salmon. Results from this project could provide greater 

detail and improve resolution of patterns of population structure and dispersal (gene flow), and 

determine occurrence of possible population bottlenecks or founder events within populations. It 

would also provide analysis of dispersal among populations, and make use of existing data on 

spatial and temporal patterns of spawning activity to produce combined inferences about 

population structure and metapopulation dynamics. 

The proposal brings together a very capable group of scientists, leaders in the field, to test finescale patterns of genetic variation among chinook salmon with spatial and temporal ecological 

data. Some of the techniques proposed are new and rapidly developing. The approach is 

innovative in that it leads on from work conducted elsewhere (see references in proposal) and 

within the Columbia-Snake. Microsatellite techniques and the accompanying statistical analyses 

have been progressing rapidly and this work will combine many of the latest techniques for field 

application and population management. It offers a logical step in the study of molecular genetic 

markers. Preliminary data from other systems (Lahontan cutthroat trout) suggest that the project 

will yield new insights appropriate to management of depressed endangered fish. 

The proposed work is essential and critical for chinook in the study area. The proposal would 

have been appropriately funded as part of the Provincial Review process under stock assessment 

methods. The information to be gained from this project will contribute to analyses under related 

projects such as the Idaho Supplementation Studies and project 199902000

(www.cbfwa.org/files/province/mtnsnake/projects/199902000.htm). The proposal will explore 

the possible alteration of genetic structure that might arise from supplementation and small 

numbers of brood fish (i.e., human-induced bottlenecks). 

The proposal includes good cost share and relationships to ongoing projects. The bulk of the 

budget is going to the subcontractor (University of Nevada-Reno) for the genetics work. 

Task 2 of Objective 1, collect additional tissue samples in 2002, should include a probabilistic 

sampling plan for collection of additional tissue samples.

5
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

Rank 4

ProjectID: 34021 

Using stable isotope ratios to explore positive or negative impacts of American shad on salmon 

and the aquatic community in the Columbia River

Sponsor: U.S. Geological Survey

Province: Lower Columbia Subbasin: Columbia Lower 

FY02 Request: $181,249 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments: 

This fourth ranked proposal addresses a long-standing question that has not attracted the attention 

it deserves. The proposal is very well written and the study seems scientifically sound in design. 

While the basic methods are not truly innovative, they would be applied in an innovative and 

potentially important manner, and thus meet the innovative criteria. The ISRP and ISAB have

frequently commented on the ecological impact of invasives and, in particular, the abundance of 

American Shad. To successfully manage Columbia basin salmon in the long term, it is essential 

that the region secure basic physical-chemical data that advances the understanding of the trophic 

dynamics of the freshwater food web that contains juvenile salmon. 

This project has the potential to address several important questions concerning the level of 

concern managers should have about shad and the impact of shad on juvenile fall chinook

salmon. The hypotheses are explicitly stated and highly relevant to the Fish and Wildlife 

Program. Whether the hypotheses are retained or rejected, the information gathered will be 

important to understanding sources of food and mortality in juvenile salmon in the Columbia 

River. 

However, the uncertainty in the application of these methods seems to be that the isotope profile 

of the prey and predators is unknown; consequently, we do not know what the practical 

limitations of this technique will be. Given the short duration of these studies and that the 

proponents have met the requirements of the Innovative Solicitation, reviewers recommend 

investing in this proposal to collect the basic information and pilot analyses.

Rank 5

ProjectID: 34036 

Development and Demonstration of Automatic Calibration Tools for Models to Assess Biological 

Performance of Habitat Restoration Strategies

Sponsor: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $199,865 ($205,715 with cost-share) 

Short Description: This project will develop a calibration tool to enable analysis of biological 

productivity for streams and rivers throughout the Columbia Basin, but will be demonstrated on a 

specific subbasin (to be determined) within the Salmon River basin.

ISRP Recommendation and Comments: 

This fifth ranked proposal is innovative and the potential for learning and for application are 

significant. If successful, this project will help automate the monumental tasks that are involved 

in developing trial data sets to calibrate models such as EDT. 

The proponents propose to develop and demonstrate an automated calibration tool capable of 

simultaneously calibrating a sequence of distributed physical and biological process models 

assembled to assess efficacy of salmon recovery and habitat restoration strategies. The ISRP also 

supports the project because we believe that assistance in obtaining data sets from multiple 

sources and agencies via a distributed database system on the internet is very worthwhile. This

6
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

proposal does a good job incorporating constituents from around the basin and from multiple 

states. 

The proponent knows and understands the problems involved with this research effort. In 

addition to the primary goals, this project will help point out important data gaps and it will 

improve accessibility of data via distributed systems on the internet. We recommend that the 

proponents also emphasize development of intermediate results in the calibration process that can 

be judged by an intelligent human as well as automation of the process by use of artificial 

intelligence and neural networks.

Rank 6

ProjectID: 34002 

Evaluate Spawning Protocols and the Reproductive Success of Salmonids in Hatcheries

Sponsor: School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington 

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $197,799 

Short Description: Develop better protocols for spawning salmonids in hatcheries, and assess 

reproductive success of individual fish in hatcheries.

ISRP Recommendation and Comments: 

This sixth ranked proposal is fundable particularly for Part 2, the most innovative portion. Part 

1.A. might be best limited to a regional survey. Part 2 will examine, through direct observation 

(parentage analysis) of a steelhead broodstock, the effect of hatchery artificial spawning practices 

on the genetic structure of a cultured population. Further, through comparison with structures 

resulting from natural patterns of mate selection, the sponsors propose to design and recommend 

hatchery practices that will result in more natural structures. This line of research may suggest 

changes from current best practices (which recommend random mating), but it is unlikely that 

many salmon hatcheries could produce matings consistent with the range of mating structures 

seen in nature. Furthermore it is likely that the reproductive success of families will differ 

between generations, reflecting different environmental conditions, and that the patterns of 

reproductive success of different mating systems will not be consistent from generation to 

generation. The samples from Forks steelhead adults will demonstrate the amount of variation in 

survival between families generated from current hatchery practices, an important innovation, but 

it won’t be clear whether differential survival occurs during hatchery culture (domestication 

selection) or after release. The proposed review of artificial spawning protocols and policies as a 

basis for comparing natural patterns of mate selection, Part 1, is arguably not innovative in and of 

itself and to the extent that the review would extend beyond the Basin it would be only

marginally pertinent to restoration.

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

Rank 7

ProjectID: 34001 

Pilot Study: Spatial and Temporal Occurrence of Salmonid Pathogens in the Upper Middle 

Mainstem Subbasin of the Columbia Cascade Province

Sponsor: Washington State University

Province: Columbia Cascade Subbasin: Columbia Upper Middle 

FY02 Request: $199,461 

Short Description: Monitor the occurrence of salmonid pathogens and assess sources, fate, and 

transport throughout the subbasin. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments: 

This seventh ranked proposal is technically excellent, fundable, and innovative. The idea is so 

new, however, that it is difficult for the ISRP to evaluate its potential importance to fish or its 

practical implementation until results are seen (this fits the purpose of the innovative process). 

While some skepticism is probably warranted about the significance and potential use of these 

assays for ultimately improving the survival of fish, results should help quantify pathogen loads

to which fish are exposed within the basin and should be a valuable tool for observing effects of 

hatchery practices on pathogen concentrations. For example, results could provide specific 

information that might inform hatchery managers about suitable timing and locations for releases 

of hatchery-produced fish to minimize exposures to waterborne pathogens. The proposal allays

some skepticism by planning to demonstrate levels of exposure that are effective in inducing 

example diseases. Thus, when the quantitative distribution of potential pathogens is described, the 

significance of the findings for disease initiation can be estimated. The ultimate question of 

whether or not significant losses of fish result from disease, and at what life-stages and locations, 

may be more readily answered if this rapid assay is available. Reviewers thought the pilot study 

would be better tested on the Snake River, which appears to be more pathogen prone. 

The ISRP reviewed this proposal in the preliminary Columbia Cascade Provincial review and 

found it to be a good proposal, saying it also would be acceptable as an innovative proposal. 

However, that proposal was for four years at budgets of ~220K, 255K, 263K, and 68K. This pilot 

version retains the scientific elements that were viewed favorable in the Columbia Cascade but 

for a more limited study. 

This proposal would use innovative DNA-based detection techniques to assay selected waters of 

the upper middle Columbia River basin (Columbia Cascade Province) for presence and relative 

abundance of several fish pathogens. Synoptic information on the occurrence of pathogens in 

broad regions has been hampered by lack of rapid detection techniques (reliance on standard 

culture approaches). This project would develop for fish pathogens a recently developed DNAbased detection system that has already been demonstrated successfully for human pathogens. 

The work is broken down into three explicit phases: methods development, pilot survey of 

selected waters, and search for sources of pathogen contamination. The detection technique 

would first be adapted for specific fish pathogens. The technique would then be applied to 

detection of fish pathogens in water samples collected from representative sites throughout the

upper middle basin. The analyses would be quantitative. They can process great amounts of water 

and have fine scale detection rate -- 0.002 organisms per liter. They would quantify the 

significance of the presence of pathogens in the environment to actual infection of fish, using 

quantitative exposure-response equations. A dose-response relationship would be evaluated to 

suggest whether the quantities of pathogens per unit of water are sufficient to be an infectious 

problem for fish. Initial efforts would be made to locate the source(s) of pathogens in the water 

(e.g., hatchery effluents, polluted waters). 

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

This proposal describes the new technique in appropriate detail to be persuasive that it is 

something worth pursuing for both its technique development and for the pathogen 

characterization it would provide. The proposed work is certainly innovative (has not been used 

for fish projects in the Northwest) and meets the ISRP criteria of sound science, consistency with 

the FWP, has potential benefit to fish, has clear objectives and expected outcomes, and has 

appropriate monitoring and evaluation in the form of quality assurance. The proposal goes 

through a rationale for regional relevance. There is a good attempt to integrate the proposed work 

with other pathogen projects (few) and other regional assessments. There are good hypotheses, 

objectives, tasks, and a good timeline. The presentation for the province review noted that initial 

samples will be taken from hatchery outfalls where pathogens could be expected to be most easily 

detected. Methods are presented in detail. Expected benefits overall, and benefits to fish are 

explicitly described. Facilities appear to be excellent and suitable (since the sort of work has 

already been done for human pathogens). The authors cite abundant, relevant scientific literature. 

There is an excellent set of resumes for well-qualified staff. The project meets ISRP evaluation 

criteria.

Rank 8

ProjectID: 34030 

Enhancing Instream Flow by Adopting Best Agricultural Management Practices

Sponsor: Washington State University

Province: Blue Mountain Subbasin: Asotin 

FY02 Request: $199,312 

Short Description: Goal: Increase water infiltration during high precipitation periods by

adopting proper agriculture practices, and use land and aquifers to temporarily store water for 

subsequent release into streams for flow enhancement and temperature control. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments: 

This eighth ranked proposal is important and timely, but marginally innovative. It is a fairly

complete presentation of an experimental approach to establishing the extent to which no-till 

management practices (the only type of “best management practice” to be examined) contribute 

to increased infiltration rates and eventually to summer flow. The investigation would be done 

through modeling and field-testing. The authors refer to similar work elsewhere and to a pilot 

project being conducted in the Pataha Creek subbasin that establish the relationship between notill practices and increased filtration. This project’s addition is to test the degree to which 

increased filtration might augment summer flow. Consequently, the proposal is marginally

innovative. 

 

However, the proposal could provide valuable insight for the Basin. The preliminary results from

a pilot study by the principal investigator demonstrated that “at the test plots in the Pataha 

Watershed, long-term no-till significantly reduced the amount of surface runoff and increased 

infiltration compared to conventional tillage. The water permeability of the long-term no-till 

fields was fivefold higher that that of the fields tilled with traditional methods. The infiltrated 

water undoubtedly contributes to the underground water storage and to the stream flow 

eventually. However, the question as to what degree can the increased infiltration help to augment 

the summer flow at a watershed level should be answered through this proposed project.” If these 

preliminary results hold, they could add additional inducements for dryland farmers and 

agriculture-related agencies to support no-till technology. 

The Echo Meadows project and other proposals reviewed have proposed active and costly input 

of water into ground storage. This innovative project has the potential of more widespread 

application given the large acreage that might be converted to no-till practices. Effects of such a 

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

program would not be dependent on continual Fish and Wildlife Program funding for active input 

of water into underground storage. 

This proposal was reviewed in last years Innovative and was ranked 16 of 66 (in the upper third). 

We were critical because the USDA was not involved in sponsorship (now they are) and because 

we were skeptical that water "saved" would remain in stream channels for fish. As a pilot study

the latter issue is secondary, but if no-till proves effective at increasing instream flows, legal 

protection of water for fish benefits will be paramount. The empirical question is whether, under 

existing holdings of water rights, the returned water would be appropriated or would stay in the 

streams. 

The proposal could be supported as a pilot project with the idea that a much broader survey might 

be warranted in the future. 

The weak points of the proposal are the failure to provide information on the statistical methods 

to be used under objective 1, establishing the connection between data collected under objective 

1; and modeling under objective 2, and the rather sparse description of information transfer, 

especially since the proposal indicates that agencies and farmers are waiting to see this 

demonstration. More complete description of data archiving, data transfer, and circulation of 

research results should have been provided. Also, reviewers had questions regarding the affects of 

intensive herbicide use and whether increased water filtration might affect agricultural 

productivity. 

Rank 9

ProjectID: 34027 

Controlling the Distribution of American Shad (Alosa sapidissima) with Pulsed Ultrasound Near 

Fish Ladders and at a Sluiceway Entrance

Sponsor: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $200,000 

Short Description: Evaluate pulsed ultrasound to direct American shad adults in and near fish 

ladders and near a sluiceway entrance. The purpose is to evaluate the potential for ultrasound as a 

tool to control shad movements near dams. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

This ninth ranked proposal is innovative and technically sound. The use of ultrasound to control 

shad would be an innovative application in the Columbia River and could be a very useful tool if 

a decision was made to control shad production; e.g. if projects like 34021 show that shad have a 

negative impact on the salmonid ecosystem. Ultrasound has been successfully used for similar 

purposes in the Great Lakes. The proponents have considered past ISRP comments and provided 

a proposal consistent with time and funding constraints of this solicitation. (See proposal 25037, 

Evaluation of the effects of American shad on upstream migration of anadromous fishes at Priest 

Rapids Dam; www.cbfwa.org/files/province/plateau/projects/25037.htm.) 

The background material presented indicates that there is a strong possibility that ultrasound 

could be used to control movement of shad. The design is a simple “on and off” application of the 

equipment and monitoring would be via the acoustic camera and counts in the fishways. The 

ISRP’s preference would be to focus on the first two objectives of the proposal and deal with the 

third if necessary later. 

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

The technology could have unknown negative consequences for many other species. To quote 

from the paper, “The range of fish species that are sensitive to ultrasonic pulsed sound is 

unknown.” (b. Technical and/or scientific background, para. 8). The proposal should ensure that 

the effects on other species such as lampreys and salmonids are tested. Apparently shad are much 

more sensitive to ultrasound than salmonids, but salmonid behavior should be observed with the 

video camera. 

While mention is made of comparing counts of shad as they pass the fish ladders using video 

cameras, there is no discussion of methods that might be used to coordinate or compare counts 

with the ongoing ladder counts conducted by the COE. These ought to be useful for the M&E 

phase. 

If shad are deemed to be in need of control, an alternative obvious solution to the proposed 

ultrasound is to re-design the fish ways so that the shad can’t use them. It is well known that adult 

fishways can be designed to allow salmon to pass via sounding, whereas the shad do not sound in 

order to pass, and so are excluded. If this proposal were successful though, shad could be 

excluded without expensive construction or modification of any fishway.

Rank 10

ProjectID: 34004 

Develop Computational Fluid Dynamics Model to Predict Total Dissolved Gas Below Spillways

Sponsor: ENSR International, Inc. 

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $225,077 ($630,077 with cost-share) (The sponsor said that the proposal could 

be revised without significantly changing the project’s scope to meet the $200K cap.) 

Short Description: Develop a computational fluid dynamics model to predict total dissolved gas 

levels below spillways that can be used to manage operation of a particular project and/or to 

predict benefit of proposed structural changes prior to their implementation. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

This tenth ranked proposal is innovative, technically excellent, and covers an important topic. The 

proposal meets a regional need in adapting and applying well-known methods and software to 

help the region better understand the benefits and consequences of spill events and to forecast the 

effects of changes in spillway configurations designed to reduce gas supersaturation. 

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models are being used for many hydraulic applications, 

and it is logical to try it here. The adaptation is innovative in that it combines deterministic 

equations with limited use of statistical models to understand the magnitude and distribution of 

dissolved gases below spillways. The logic for the model seems good. The proponents are well 

qualified to do the work, and the collaboration between ENSR and the Corps is an excellent mix 

of interests, capabilities, and eventual users. 

The problem of modeling air entrainment in the plunge pool is particularly important to solve. 

The basic concept that mass exchange of gas between bubbles and water is an equilibrium

process where the history of bubbles entrained below the spillway in time controls the TDG 

below the spillway has a firm basis in physical science. The success of the modeling effort will be 

tested against data at Bonneville Dam spillway, but Bonneville Dam may not be the best place to 

test this model. 

The original submittal did not meet the cost limitations of the solicitation. 

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

Rank 11

ProjectID: 34010 

Visualization Tools for Information Discovery and Decision Support

Sponsor: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory/Battelle 

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $199,867 

Short Description: Facilitate decision making by providing a suite of software tools for 

information access and visual analysis that help to quickly find and extract specific information 

from a vast array of text documents (reports, journals, messages, e-mail, etc.). 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

This 11th ranked proposal is innovative and fundable. It is a good proposal to address a 

potentially monumental problem facing the scientific community in the region. The PI’s from

PNNL propose to specialize PNNL software called, IN-SPIRE, to help one quickly extract and 

use information from electronic documents. IN-SPIRE has been developed to accept large 

volumes of unformatted text, determine dominant topics and relationships within the text, and 

present the results in a visual format that can be interpreted intuitively. This approach has the 

potential to uncover hidden information in large document collections and facilitates finding 

pertinent information without requiring investigators to read through every document in a 

collection. 

However, the ISRP was not totally convinced that the software is really better than use of an 

existing search engine plus one’s own well-tuned judgment. On the one hand, information glut is 

a real problem, but much of the problem comes from the glut of low quality information that must 

be sifted and weighed with judgment. This proposed software does not address information 

quality.

A drawback is that apparently the software is classified and could only be used by federal natural 

resource management agencies. The PNNL IN-SPIRE software suite was originally developed for 

the U.S. intelligence community. Use of IN-SPIRE will allow federal agencies involved in 

Columbia River resource management to analyze textual information from a variety of sources 

more quickly and more comprehensively. 

The staff at PNNL have the technical training and experience necessary to have a high probability

of producing a useful product. A primary question that should be addressed during the contracting 

period is access to the software by the public given that the project will be funded through the 

Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program. In particular, access to the products of the project by state 

and tribal agencies would seem to be necessary. Even if the software cannot be made available to 

non-federal agencies, the cost of this project seems like a bargain for providing information to a 

substantial proportion of the scientific community in the Northwest U.S. 

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

Rank 12

ProjectID: 34026 

Studying the Impacts of Dam Passage on the Vestibular System in Fish

Sponsor: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $195,850 

Short Description: Assess feasibility of measuring response of juvenile salmonid's vestibular 

system to mechanical stimulation that mimics conditions observed during passage through spills, 

turbines, and juvenile bypass systems. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments: 

This 12th ranked proposal is fundable and innovative. It is a technically excellent proposal for 

studies to relate physical/hydraulic parameters experienced by fish in dam passage to effects on 

fish to be observed in the laboratory. However, uncertainties associated with physiological 

mechanisms are not the key uncertainties in finding solutions to the problems of dam passage. 

The physical parameters (e.g., acceleration) have been measured in actual dam passage by an 

electronically instrumented package called the Sensor Fish (conducted in separately funded 

studies). The proponents want to determine what effect these measured physical forces would 

have on a smolt’s vestibular system (inner ear) — likely the most damaging physiological effect 

of passage. The method is to fix a fish on a shaker table, expose it to motions as strong as those in 

the spillways and turbines, and look for damage to vestibular structures. The proposed work could 

provide the physiological link between the physical conditions during dam passage and the longterm mortalities seen in the field (probably mediated by predation on fish that are behaving 

unnaturally because of loss of equilibrium due to vestibular damage). However, the shaker table 

may not be an adequate simulation of turbine or spill passage. 

The work is clearly innovative, in that relating field exposures to such mechanical stresses to 

effects on the inner ear has not been done before for fish. The research is a radical departure from

orthodox fisheries experimentation, in which researchers release a test group of fish into the 

spillway or turbine under certain conditions and see how many survive, and repeat the trial under 

a range of conditions until you know the mortality response to operating conditions such as spill 

rate or turbine loading. The proposed study is a way toward much more efficient experimentation. 

It holds promise of establishing a mechanistic dose-response relationship that can be used to 

evaluate the importance for fish of different hydraulic regimes. Thus, the work may well have 

benefit for fish and wildlife. 

The premise of the work is that there are (or could be) feasible alternative spillway and turbine 

designs or operational procedures that would produce plausibly tolerable physical forces. There

would be little sense in doing this work if no alternative spillway or turbine could be tolerable to 

fish. Work on alternative turbine designs is being undertaken with funding from the U.S. 

Department of Energy and the Corps of Engineers. Biological criteria to evaluate the alternative 

designs are needed. 

 

The proposal establishes the relevance to the Fish and Wildlife Program and the BiOp. The work 

is scientifically sound (in fact, the proposal goes overboard in giving scientific background).

There are clear objectives, tasks, and expected outcomes. Monitoring and evaluation for this type 

of study are not clearly relevant, except for evaluation of the results in publications. The main 

negative point is the highly basic physiological nature of the work. It might be argued, for 

example, that understanding the physiological mechanisms for loss of equilibrium is not needed 

for estimation of effects on predation. But one could also argue that the basics are useful and 

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

needed, particularly in this case where the physical data are being obtained with such 

thoroughness and precision. We need a biological framework to relate to the extensive physical 

measurements being made. 

Rank 13

ProjectID: 34023 

Laboratory, Prototype, and Field Evaluation of Undershot Horizontal Fish Screen in the Hood

River Basin

Sponsor: Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon and Farmers 

Irrigation District 

Province: Columbia Gorge Subbasin: Hood 

FY02 Request: $187,004 

Short Description: Test hydraulics and biological safety (injury and mortality) of undershot

horizontal flat plate screen for application at Eliot Creek, a tributary to Middle Fork Hood River. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

This thirteenth ranked proposal is well prepared, collaborative, and marginally innovative. It is

designed to test the efficacy of an undershot screen design to pass fish, sediment, and debris as 

compared to an overshot screen. The study design includes model, bench-scale and pilot scale 

testing of a new screening approach on the Hood River. Project structure and background 

presented in the proposal inspire confidence that the project will be able to reach its objectives. 

Information gathered will be used to complete a “Proof of Concept” document. Apparently this

document is needed to get approval to install a pilot application of a modified (undershot versus 

overshot) diversion screen in the Eliot Creek diversion. An overshot screen is currently under 

construction on Hood River, Oregon, but project sponsors state that overshot applications are not 

likely to perform as desired in waters with a heavy sediment-load. The proposition here is that a 

screen modified to be “undershot” has potential for overcoming this deficiency. Good cost share 

is described: “Construction funds are not sought in this application because they are already

secured by MFID, and monitoring and evaluation of the Eliot Creek undershot screen is planned 

by MFID ...” 

Although new to the Columbia River, similar technology has been used elsewhere in the Pacific 

Northwest, on the Salmon River diversion on Vancouver Island, Canada (contact Craig 

Wightman, Sr. Biologist, Provincial BC, Nanaimo). A site visit with design engineers is 

recommended for the project sponsors. The proposal should have included a concept diagram.

Rank 14

ProjectID: 34035 

Chinook Salmon Abundance Monitoring Using an Acoustic Camera 

Sponsor: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Province: Mountain Snake Subbasin: Salmon 

FY02 Request: $146,900 

Short Description: (None provided) 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

This 14th ranked project is fundable and innovative but judged to be medium priority. It is 

innovative because of the potential to piggy back on an ongoing project and use existing or 

planned infrastructure to investigate the feasibility of obtaining accurate spawner abundance 

information of spring and summer chinook salmon in small streams using acoustic camera 

technology based on the Dual-Frequency Identification Sonar (DIDSON) originally developed for 

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

military applications. The budget is mainly for an engineering project to fabricate an upgraded 

version of the existing acoustic camera during the following winter, test it, and write fish 

counting software. 

Funding of this project is in part dependent upon the status of the NPT-PNNL Mt. Snake proposal 

for the split-beam hydroacoustic array at the Secesh (Proposal #199703000), because there is 

need for the Crump weir, etc. The Secesh portion of that proposal was recommended for funding 

by the Council; thus, this innovative proposal appears to be feasible. The ISRP questioned why 

this component was not proposed in the suit of monitoring technologies proposed in projects 

199703000 (hydroacoustic system in the Secesh River, video in Lake Creek, and video and Vaki 

equipment in Marsh Creek), 27019 (hydroacoustic equipment in Minam River), and 28052 

(Johnson Creek – weir and hydroacoustic equipment) as a unit. In the review of those projects the 

ISRP “...concluded that existing monitoring elements (e.g., Lake Creek video, weir and redd 

counts in Johnson Creek) should be continued, and installation of a single experimental high tech 

application is fundable. The type of installation to be tested, however, remains a question. Team

members with experience in "high-tech" applications, are convinced that existing information 

shows resistivity counters have the greatest promise for applications such as those identified in 

these proposals. Given expert opinion regarding the relative value of present alternatives, the 

sponsors need to provide a convincing case for eliminating a resistivity counter as the installation 

to be evaluated at the chosen experimental site.” Also, the ISRP noted that “The installation 

needs to viewed as experimental, and should address problems of site selection, methods for 

getting fish into the target area at high flow, variable water conditions, cost, and practicality.” 

Because of these same concerns and questions, the ISRP ranks the present proposal as medium to 

low priority. 

Rank 15

ProjectID: 34017 

Low-Cost Thermal Imaging System for Aerial Remote Sensing Applications

Sponsor: Smart Mao Imaging 

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $115,674 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

This 15th ranked proposal is innovative but moderate priority. The proposal justifies the work as 

meeting the innovative criteria and could be of use to many working in the Columbia River 

Basin. Lower cost methods for necessary monitoring to collect visual and thermal data are of 

value in allowing better use of the limited funds available for remediation and mitigation. The 

benefits are a step or two removed from direct immediate biological benefit, but could 

nevertheless be of value in improving lower-cost monitoring technology. The project personnel 

appear to be very well qualified to conduct the work. This is mainly an engineering and 

construction project with the possibility of failure if FAA will not approve their external mount 

on light fixed wing aircraft. 

Thermal infrared imagery for watershed assessments, habitat measurement, and total maximum

daily load (TMDL) monitoring has been used with the advent of the Forward Looking Infrared 

Radiometer (FLIR). The proponent of this project proposes to design, test, and certify a very

inexpensive combined FLIR and small format digital camera in one portable unit. A 

subcontractor has been contacted to provide engineering and administrative assistance for FAA 

approval of the new unit for the Cessna 170. A subcontractor has also been contacted to develop 

an efficient GIS interface to facilitate the use of acquired imagery.

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

The science behind this proposal appears to be sound. Success depends on the technical aspects of 

engineering design and building a unit that will be approved by the FAA for external mounting on 

widely available and inexpensive fixed wing aircraft such as the Cessna 170. The proposal (and 

the attached letter from Teasdale) suggest that there is some reason to expect door-strut mounts to 

be a challenge to make work or to have approved by FAA. The ISRP is not able to evaluate 

whether that makes this project unlikely to succeed. The ISRP suggests that the Council obtain 

additional review of the feasibility of building and certifying such a unit by an experienced 

engineer. If successful, the payoff in useful scientific information appears to be substantial for 

mapping and monitoring remote subbasins in the Columbia Basin. 

Can fixed winged applications provide comparable results to helicopter applications? 

On the more negative side, the proposal uses a lot of paper without providing a lot of information 

as to a) how the system will be designed/tested –what plans are there for design parameters to 

vary and what criteria will be used in evaluating outcomes, b) transfer of information to the 

potential users basin-wide (4 workshops, but how advertised, how structured, is this enough?).

Also, it seems there may be patent issues if the major product is a door-strut mount. If BPA funds 

this, will it belong freely to BPA or the public for use? 

Rank 16

ProjectID: 34005 

Application of DNA Fingerprinting Microarrays and Semi-Automated Data Analysis Methods for 

Salmonid Stock Identification in the Columbia Basin

Sponsor: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $200,000 

Short Description: Use recent advances in DNA microarray technology to address genetic issues 

underlying questions related to hatchery management and interactions of wild and hatchery 

populations 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments: 

The 16th ranked proposal is innovative and technically sound, but is of low to moderate priority. 

The study proposes to bring a new genetic assay technique, microarrays, into Columbia River 

salmon management and provide "real - time" analysis. The technique also provides high genetic 

resolution, down to the family line or pedigree level usually associated with DNA fingerprinting. 

Nevertheless, the assay in 34001 would probably be a better test for the applicability of the 

microarray technology for the Fish and Wildlife Program than this proposal. The microarray

technology is not likely the best tool for the questions and tasks this proposal outlines, i.e., that of 

mixed stock analysis and population classification. A straightforward multiplexed microsatellite 

analysis would probably better address these issues than the proposed microarray approach. 

A similar proposal was submitted for the FY2001 innovative solicitation and was ranked 15 out

of 66 proposals submitted. This proposal is improved from the earlier version, and they have 

adopted the ISRP suggestion to focus on a few stocks. Specifically, this incarnation focuses on 

four specific chinook stocks as a proof of concept that the microarray technique will permit users 

to identify fish with particular stocks or groups—obviating much of the need for tags and marks. 

In theory this technique could perhaps be valuable in assessing success of YKFP 

supplementation, as they claim, but reviewers would have to take that on faith because details are 

not provided.

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

Microarrays, one of the newest technologies to hit molecular biology, have been developed to 

assess the expression of many genes at once in response to a given stimulus. The technology has 

been used extensively in pharmacogenetics and bioinformatics, where a large literature base has 

developed. However, developing DNA libraries for fish populations and then using them to 

identify individuals in this way is not proven. Fundamentally, microarrays are better suited for the 

comparative expression of genes and for mutation detection than for population genetics 

applications. The researchers appear to be competent in microarray development for 

cryptosporidians and bacteria in general, but do not seem particularly strong in use of this 

technique for fish. The literature cited on DNA fingerprinting and its use in salmon populations is 

not entirely up-to-date. In the early 90s, the basin investigated the utility of the multi-locus DNA 

fingerprinting approach to addressing management concerns for chinook salmon. The effort did 

not yield much useful information due in part to the polyploidy nature of salmonids, which 

generated gels with overlapping confounding banding patterns. The subsequent use of singlelocus probes overcame these problems, but few single-locus probes have been developed 

specifically for salmonids. 

The authors argue that the technology has potential for clearly distinguishing separate breeding 

groups of fish and that assignment of individuals to specific stocks can occur rapidly; they intend 

to demonstrate these applications. The authors also argue that the technology has potential for

helping to address some of the important questions concerning the Basin’s fisheries. Most of the 

important questions concerning hatchery and wild fish require quantitative information related to 

fitness. How will this “new” technology help to answer questions concerning effects of habitat 

degradation and hatchery fish interbreeding on the fitness of endemic fish populations? 

Additionally, it is not clear how quantitative levels of divergence can be generated from the 

microarray data, and how the microarray data analysis can deal with issues of non-Mendelian 

inheritance and the occurrence of null alleles. The latter two issues have been dealt with 

extensively in the salmonid allozyme literature and are being addressed with the burgeoning 

microsatellite literature. 

Rank 17

ProjectID: 34029 

Geomorphic Controls on Salmonid Spawning Habitat in Mountain Drainage Basins of the Pacific 

Northwest

Sponsor: University of Idaho, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station 

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $199,953 

Short Description: Develop and field test a model for predicting watershed-scale availability of 

salmonid spawning gravels as a function of channel hydraulics and sediment supply. Results will 

provide a tool for defensible, proactive, ecosystem management at basin scales. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

This 17th ranked proposal is technically fundable, but is of marginal innovation and importance. 

This is a proposal from a talented group of researchers that would take advantage of their past and 

ongoing work in the Middle Fork Salmon River. However, there seems no priority need for this 

work and the general applicability of its results remains un-established; thus, there does not seem

to be a compelling need for the work when compared to other proposals. A similar proposal was 

submitted by these investigators in the Mt. Snake Provincial review and received a not fundable 

recommendation from the ISRP. 

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

The proposal is innovative in the sense that new modeling procedures are being proposed to

predicting watershed-scale availability of salmonid spawning gravels as a function of 

hydrogeographic features including channel characteristics and availability of sediment. 

Specifically, the proposal is to adapt an existing hydrogeomorphic model developed for coastal 

streams to mountain streams in Idaho. Resource specialists do not presently have such a tool but 

it is not clear that the tool would be of significant use even if it were available. One beneficial use 

could be verification that actions to restore/enhance spawning habitat are consistent with the 

structure of the channel at the project site. 

We suggest that the proponent implement double blind testing of the model predictions in areas 

other that the Middle Fork of the Salmon River after development. Also, procedures for sampling 

of sediments should be described in more detail. What are the procedures by which samples will 

be “...taken at systematic locations along the downstream length of the river, and with special 

attention paid to differences above and below tributary junctions ... and across lithologic or 

structural boundaries...?”

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

Unranked Proposals 

ProjectID: 34003 

Salmon Run Generator (SRG). 

Sponsor: Autek LLC 

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $198,500 

Short Description: Protect the fish, produce the energy. Traditional generators create energy via 

water forced through blades, damaging fish. The SRG design creates energy from the perimeter

of the turbine, and allows fish to swim harmlessly through the middle. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

Not fundable. This is innovative for the Columbia Basin, but the proposal is not fundable because 

the links to fish and biological concerns are not adequate. It does not meet the criteria for 

relevance to the Fish and Wildlife Program. The evaluation of the biological effects of the 

Archimedes screw drive is inadequate. A test of the technology on salmon or even salmonids is 

not proposed. Application to adult passage also seems far-fetched. The prototype should be 

applied under conditions more realistic than an aquarium, and it is curious that this apparatus 

hasn’t been tested in a lab situation. A qualified research biologist with hydro-experience in large 

river systems should be associated with the assessment, and with preparation of the proposal. 

This proposal is engineering focused and there are other, more appropriate, funding sources. The 

Department of Energy is funding projects of this sort (development of novel turbine designs). The 

Archimedes screw is not a new concept and is already being tested at Alden Labs in prototype. 

This proposal would have to be evaluated by engineering personnel qualified in turbines and 

generators, which the ISRP is not. From a biological perspective, this may have promise as a lowpower producer that might have minimal effects on fish, both by lack of a dam and by less 

turbine-induced mortality than dam-based turbines. However, the proposal does not provide an

adequate design to test fish passage efficiency. To conduct an adequate biological test would 

likely far exceed the annual amount budgeted for all innovative projects. 

Although not a scientific concern, the unstated objective of the proposal appears to be to use 

public money to fund the research and development necessary to patent a proprietary technology.

ProjectID: 34006 

Assess Salmon Carcass Nutrient-Macroinvertebrate-Avian Relationships in Riparian Ecosystems 

of the Yakima Subbasin

Sponsor: Northwest Habitat Institute 

Province: Columbia Plateau Subbasin: Yakima

FY02 Request: $184,280 

Short Description: Explore the nutrient pathway: salmon carcass nutrients > benthic insect 

standing crop > adult insect production > riparian nesting insectivorous birds. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

There is little doubt that an increase in aquatic invertebrates induced by salmon carcasses could 

provide greater forage and thus a higher abundance of insectivorous birds, yet this remains 

unquantified. Exploration of the nutrient pathway with stable isotopes is at most marginally

innovative and this study is poorly designed. If it were adequately designed this project might tie 

to or follow from currently funded proposals of a related nature (carcass additions); i.e., an 

extension of the work of Pearsons (see innovative proposals 2001). Pilot studies (leaning on 

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

related studies in progress, as suggested in the proposal) might proceed at a much-reduced cost, 

towards testable hypotheses and a larger scale experiment. 

There are many areas with and without salmonids, at which, one might compare the abundance 

and distribution of insectivorous birds to provide some of the preliminary evidence that should 

have been presented or proposed (adequate stratification of habitats would be necessary). 

Abundance and diversity in control and treatment sections may provide most of the required 

information (and perhaps already available) that one might need to access the role of salmon 

carcasses on insectivorous birds – there seems little need at this stage for detailed processorientated models. Furthermore, this may not be possible given the variability typically found in 

samples of aquatic invertebrates. The authors need to conduct some preliminary statistical 

analyses of existing invertebrate data to show that this proposal is realistic. It is not clear why 

measures of aquatic invertebrate standing crop are important to the hypothesis except in the case 

of dippers. The authors should show that the number of emerging aquatic insects (and standing 

crop) is a significant part of the available forage for nesting birds during the period proposed for 

study. The stable isotope analyses might provide further evidence of the importance of marinederived nutrients (as shown elsewhere), but there is little information provided on the latter in this

proposal. Some investigation early in the study could assist in determining the sensitivity of that 

work and the required sampling. However, while the USFWS Breeding Bird Survey shows 

declining trends of some of the species that use riparian areas in the Columbia Basin, there is no 

evidence implicating salmon at this time. Given their extensive migratory pathways, many other 

causes of the declines need to be considered as well. 

Other questions: 

• Given what is known about variation in bird abundance, species diversity, and nesting 

success, are the birds that are expected to be observed in the few sampling areas proposed 

sufficient to test the hypothesis? 

• How do vegetation samples contribute to a test of the hypothesis?

• “As part of regular nest monitoring, eggshells discarded by adult birds after hatching will 

be collected.” Won’t these eggshells be difficult to find? Don’t the adult birds generally

carry these shells far from the nest? To what data will results of the stable isotopes in 

eggshells be compared? Will this part of the study provide any quantitative assessment 

related to the hypothesis? If these isotopes are found both in fish and shells, what does 

that contribute to the test of the hypothesis? 

ProjectID: 34007 

New Life for dead stream

Sponsor: Baker Valley Irrigation District 

Province: Middle Snake Subbasin: Powder 

FY02 Request: $41,565 

Short Description: Restoring an old stream to reclaim a fishery, wildlife habitat for all aquatic 

species 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments: 

Not innovative. This project does not meet the innovative criteria and would have been more 

appropriately submitted for the Middle Snake Provincial Review (now nearing completion). The 

techniques proposed for stream restoration are not innovative in the Columbia River Basin, and 

no attempt was made to show how the proposed project met the innovative criteria. 

20
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

ProjectID: 34009 

Net Pen Rearing Spring Chinook in Lake Osoyoos

Sponsor: Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation 

Province: Columbia Cascade Subbasin: Okanogan 

FY02 Request: $199,000 

Short Description: This project will investigate and demonstrate the feasibility of recreating a 

unique lake-rearing spring chinook salmon population in Lake Osoyoos to expand the diversity, 

distribution, and abundance of an endangered ESU. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

The proposal left too many issues unaddressed and net pens are not innovative; this proposal 

belonged in the Columbia Cascade Province review (which is nearing completion). The sponsors 

have considerable experience with net pen rearing of other species, which is the method proposed 

for acclimation of chinook in this case. The new idea is that this approach has not been attempted 

to restore chinook stocks. 

There is historical information of a spring Chinook run to the Okanogan, but the spawning stream

is not in useable condition at this time. The probability of establishing a spring chinook run seems

very low, as is the ability to (simultaneously) generate a recreational and subsistence fishery.

There are many logistical concerns with this proposal. No evidence is provided that net pens may

be sited in Lake Osoyoos, and the likelihood of putting the net pens in area that is suitable (cold 

enough) is slim. The number of streams suitable for spring chinook in the area is minimal, and no 

indication of potential impact to the present recreational uses of the lake, including the 

recreational fishery, was given. 

There are questions about whether the net pen reared fish would migrate out of Lake Osoyoos or 

residualize. The proposal would PIT tag half of the smolts in order to follow their progress out of 

the lake. 

More than 18 months would be needed to evaluate this project because of the life history of 

chinook. It is not clear what the duration of the project would be. The total number of months 

shown in the budget sheet includes items that overlap in their schedules, and will not add up to a 

full duration. 

Concerns notwithstanding, this was one of the few innovative proposals that offered the potential 

to directly increase fish populations. 

ProjectID: 34011 

Western Painted Turtle Habitat Restoration Project

Sponsor: Portland's Environmental Services 

Province: Lower Columbia Subbasin: Willamette 

FY02 Request: $58,417 

Short Description: Protect and re-establish western painted turtle nesting and basking habitat 

through solid waste removal and native revegetation at Bonneville Ponds. Perform pre and postproject monitoring to determine affects on western painted turtle populations. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

This proposal does not meet the innovative criteria and should not be considered under this 

solicitation. Provision of habitat improvements is not a novel approach. Although it may very

well be valuable to attempt to maintain turtle populations through habitat maintenance and 

restoration, this approach is not novel. Additionally, the proposal is quite superficial and makes 

many statements that are either vague or that require support that is not provided either by data 

21
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

presentation or citations from the literature (e.g., connectivity is key to the health of the 

ecosystem of SBLWA). The methods are not presented in adequate detail to judge the quality of 

the monitoring data that would result. The proposal seems very narrow in focus, as does the 

recognized group of stakeholders to be involved (BES, BPA, and Port of Portland). 

ProjectID: 34012 

Sponsor A Smolt

Sponsor: Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation 

Province: Columbia Cascade Subbasin: Methow 

FY02 Request: $58,061 

Short Description: Develop a long-term self-sustaining interactive public sponsorship program

for recovery efforts in the Methow Subbasin through the PTAGIS database system in conjunction 

with evaluation of the Twisp Steelhead Acclimation site. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

Not innovative and not an adequate proposal. This proposal requests funds for project 

management and website development of a “sponsor a smolt” program. The project would 

develop a program of public sponsorship to create a funding base for pit tagging of smolts at an 

acclimation facility. Public sponsorship of the “sponsor a smolt” program is presented as the 

innovative part of the project. However, the proposal emphasizes the tagging rather than the 

public program. The project would not analyze the effectiveness of public involvement in 

funding. 

If the project were based on public involvement it would address questions like the following: 

What is the target level of smolt sponsorship? What sponsorship level would need to be achieved 

to create a permanent source of funds? What if only partial funds were raised? How would 

tagging activities be modified? The proposal reads as though funding to tag 6000 smolts is 

assured. 

The project may not maintain public interest in sponsorship because the tagged fish will not be 

detectable for most of their lifecycle. Additionally, the proposers should consider whether the 

public would accept an average return rate of 1% or less on their investment of sponsorship. Is

there a risk of them getting discouraged at this return on investment?

ProjectID: 34013 

Restore Ecological Structure and Function to Grays Lake Using Decision Support System

Sponsor: U.S. Geological Survey - Biological Resources Division, Northern Rocky Mountain 

Science Center 

Province: Upper Snake Subbasin: Headwaters 

FY02 Request: $200,000 

Short Description: Collect and synthesize hydrological, geomorphological and ecological data 

into a decision support system to optimize water management at Grays Lake. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

Not innovative but a thorough proposal that addresses a significant need in an important location, 

and features unusually good potential for cooperation among groups and interests. It should have 

been submitted in the Upper Snake provincial review (which is nearing completion). 

There is no innovative aspect to this project. Its objectives are to, (1) compile and collect the data 

necessary to describe current hydrologic and ecologic conditions at Grays Lake, and (2) import 

these data into a decision support system that will allow wildlife and irrigation managers to make 

quantitative decisions regarding the ecological and economic costs and benefits of various water 

management options at Grays Lake. 

22
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

The proposal presents a very nice background and overview of the Gray’s Lake water and 

wildlife issues (little appears to be known on the Yellowstone cutthroat trout population thought 

to be a relic one in Gray’s Lake). These sections of the proposal are very thorough. Objectives 

and tasks are well described in general terms, but lack specific detail on specific methods and 

analyses to be used. For example, it would have been nice to see more detail on development of 

the Decision Support Model (Task 7), particularly as this is the project’s central task. 

Nevertheless, the PI team looks well qualified to conduct the work, which has some level of 

support from the local landowners. 

ProjectID: 34014 

Assessing Potential Biological and Toxicological Effects of Parental Transfer of Environmental 

Contaminants to White Sturgeon in the Columbia River

Sponsor: Oregon State University

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $199,000 

Short Description: Examine the potential effects of environmental contaminants on white 

sturgeon reproduction. Explore the possibility of developing a tool by which to monitor the 

contaminant load passed onto white sturgeon progeny. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

Marginally innovative and not high priority. The proposal was carefully prepared and describes a 

project to assess whether PCBs occur in white sturgeon gonads and blood, to examine whether

levels in these tissues are correlated so as to provide a non-lethal sampling tool, and to assess 

whether offspring of contaminated adults experience low growth, survival, or deformity. Methods 

described here appear to have been used elsewhere, with success. However, only one portion of 

this seemed innovative: objective 2, to assess possible non-lethal sampling of female gametes for 

PCBs. That objective was a relatively minor feature of the proposal. 

The proposal may lead to some understanding of recruitment failure, but it offers little in the way

of remediation, thus is mainly academic. Effort in reduction of contaminants is required. The 

proposal did not clearly discuss the results of considerable efforts underway on this topic in the 

last decade (i.e. WSCRPRG). 

ProjectID: 34015 

Neotropical Migratory Bird Habitat Restoration Project

Sponsor: Portland's Environmental Services 

Province: Lower Columbia Subbasin: Willamette 

FY02 Request: $197,320 

Short Description: Compare the effectiveness of prescribed burning and other treatment 

methods on fire dependent plant communities, reduce fuel loads of non-native plants, and reestablish native plantings creating native habitat for Neotropical Migratory Songbirds. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

Not innovative. This proposal is to experiment with prescribed fire in the restoration of songbird

habitat adjacent to the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. Although it argues for priority

funding due to ongoing work to date, it fails to establish how it is an innovative approach, versus 

an application of existing techniques for habitat restoration. 

Additionally, the proposal is not strong. The focus appears to be research, but the proposal lacks 

an experimental design, rigorous adequate sampling methods, and description of statistical 

approach. The language used by the proponents suggests that what is planned is more a 

demonstration of techniques that are assumed to be desirable. The work would not be fundable

23
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

under other solicitations without a much better developed approach to truly evaluating 

effectiveness of restoration methods. 

Task 1 is to develop a site plan for the tests and restoration activities involving key stakeholders. 

Prominently missing from the list of stakeholders are the local landowners/homeowners. Their 

input should occur at this initial stage in some form, rather than seeking it later, after a plan has 

been developed. 

ProjectID: 34016 

Behavioral Motivation in the Evaluation of Culvert Designs for Juvenile Salmonid Passage

Sponsor: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Marine Sciences Laboratory

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $199,989 

Short Description: Test hypotheses concerning the cues for upstream movement by juvenile

salmonids in order to develop evaluations of new and retrofit culvert designs. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

Benefits from this proposal are not adequately demonstrated. This is a well-prepared and 

interesting proposal by a strong team of researchers to “ ... test hypotheses concerning the cues 

that elicit upstream movement by juvenile salmonids.” However, it is difficult to ascertain how 

the information gained from these behavioral studies could be used in field applications (and 

several are already known; e.g., dark areas), or in the evaluations of culvert designs, which clearly

remain a problem. 

ProjectID: 34018 

Evaluate Engineering Conceptual Design and Field Application of Pisces Fish Passage Unit

Sponsor: Watershed Professionals Network, llc (WPN) 

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $194,864 

Short Description: Complete testing of the PISCES fish passage device in a lab and controlled 

field location to evaluate fish reaction and fish passage efficiency. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

Meets the innovative criteria but the proposal, though improved from earlier iterations submitted 

in BPA solicitations, still has some shortcomings. The device is still too sketchily described to 

facilitate review at this point. The sponsors need to be put this technology in context with other 

technologies, specifically laying out potential benefits to fish. 

There has been a lot of work on surface collectors for juvenile salmon beyond the tests at Cowlitz 

Dam that is discussed. Others should have been referenced and discussed in more detail in this

proposal. The proposal is unique in putting an emphasis on turbulence as the primary factor 

affecting response of juvenile salmon, a factor the Independent Scientific Group, in Return to the 

River 2000 (www.nwcouncil.org/library/return/2000-12.htm), advised as deserving of attention. 

While the proposal puts emphasis on potential application at hydroelectric projects, the potential 

application seems to be more in line with the scale of circumstances at irrigation intakes and the 

like. Whether there is an urgent need for this technology for that application is a question that 

should have been better demonstrated in the proposal. 

The tests already scheduled by consultants will provide valuable information. 

24
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

“Pisces” is an idea and conceptual design for an apparatus that is being “sold” as a low cost, low 

maintenance, and effective alternative for protecting fish from entering water intakes. The 

comparison of costs and potential effectiveness with existing technology was not included in the 

presentation. 

In addition, there is the issue of the proprietary nature of the device. Although not central to the 

scientific review, policy makers should be aware of the issue. The proposal requests public 

funding to facilitate further development and testing of the apparatus. If results of the assessment 

are positive, the developers (Balaton) “...will expand into a privately funded controlled series of 

applications at representative of the sites, species, and environmental conditions indicated as 

feasible by the lab and field tests.” The proposal seems to be a request for the public to complete 

development and initial testing of this apparatus, which ultimately will remain in private 

ownership. 

ProjectID: 34020 

Fish Behavioral Guidance Through Water Velocity Modification PHASE ONE

Sponsor: Natural Solutions 

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $222,586 (Sponsor said the proposal could be revised without significantly

changing the project’s scope to meet the $200K cap.) 

Short Description: Develop a means & method of duplicating or simulating “bulk flows” in 

a quiescent environment, such as a hydro facility, and integrating induced turbulence to the 

mechanism to provide multiple natural migratory cues for guiding fish to safe passage routes. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments: 

Not fundable. Although the approach is innovative, the proposal is not technically adequate. The 

sponsors should be encouraged to keep working on this and to enlist further input from fish 

biologists. 

 

This is an innovative proposal to provide a “hydraulic welcome station” for migrating juvenile 

salmon at the upstream end of the forebay pool. By adapting a technique used in the mining 

industry, a jet of water would be created from a barge, or possibly a fixed structure, located at the 

upstream edge of the forebay pool. The artificial water jet would be designed to approximate the 

thalweg velocity and turbulent flows characteristic of the river upstream from the forebay pool. 

The water jet would be created by a device known as a “Venturi eductor” which would direct 

juvenile salmon toward collectors for surface bypass systems (SFB) located at the downstream

end of the forebay pool, on the face of the dam. The Venturi eductor is intended to enhance the 

effectiveness of surface bypass collectors by getting the juvenile salmon directly through the 

forebay pool and into the collectors of the SFB without delay. The proposal shows a reasonably 

good understanding of current information about what the Fish and Wildlife Program specifies 

for juvenile salmon migrations. 

Although it starts with a great concept, the approach to implementation gives the overall proposal 

a slow finish. Several fundamental questions were not answered; “Would the implementation 

ultimately prove safe for juvenile salmon and other fish?”, “How many of these eductors would 

be needed at the entrance to the typical forebay?” and “How far downstream would the velocity 

enhancing effect of the eductor jet last?” The lack of information on the safety of this method of

increasing water velocities for juvenile salmon is indicative of the general lack of biological 

criteria for development and operation of the appliance. The proposal needs to demonstrate 

further interaction with fish biologists familiar with the issue. The lack of information on how 

eductor-based passage devices would fit into the forebay of a Columbia River low head dam may

be indicative of a shortage of hydraulic physics and engineering content in the proposal. Figures 

25
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

are sorely needed to show the layout and positioning of project components (eductors, etc) for 

both a theoretical (or actual) fullscale forebay and for the prototype testing. The issue of scale 

needs to be addressed: what might be the size and cost of pumps and eductors needed to produce 

enough hydraulic change to be meaningful fish. The proposal gives a tantalizing view of what 

might be accomplished, but it does not go far enough to allow evaluation of the chances for 

success. The proposal is too preliminary to be competitive. Specific questions and comments 

needing attention are given below. 

General, non-task specific comments: 

1. An important technical point is the ratio of motive water to effluent water, said to be 1:5 – 1:6 

for a four inch eductor tube used in dredge mining. The actual ratio of motive:effluent in the 

example of the proposal for application to juvenile salmon is 1:7, i.e. 6400 gpm motive flow to 

produce 44,800 gpm effluent flow. 44.8/6.4 = 7.0 

2. The proposal’s use of the term “thalweg” is confusing, substituting “thalweg” in place of term, 

“thalweg flows.” For example, the statement in the proposal incorrectly equates bulk flows with 

thalweg, “the hypothesis that bulk flow or thalweg can be generated in the far & intermediate 

fields of forebays ...” (Section e. Proposal objectives, tasks and methods, Objectives, first para.) 

A thalweg is the line defining the lowest points along the length of a river bed. Water particle 

velocities and turbulence are typically maximized in this part of a river, hence the interest in, 

“thalweg flows,” and “thalweg velocity” in relation to juvenile salmon migrations. Thalweg is not 

a synonym for “bulk flows.” 

Comments: Task (A) 2002 - 3D Profile the Zone of Influence of Venturi Eductors. 

• What sizes of eductors are being tested? The proposal states, “These tests will be 

performed with each eductor size, ...” but this paragraph contains no information on what 

size eductors are being tested. 

• Why are the eductor tubes initially being tested from locations on the bottom [of the test 

reservoir] up? The region of interest for juvenile chinook is from the top down, with the 

likelihood function of finding fish with depth being something like a Poisson shaped 

curve with its mean (depth) depending on the race (stream or ocean) and state of 

maturity. 

• What will be the size of the hydroacoustic “dead zone” adjacent to the air-water interface 

and the water-bottom interface? The “dead zone” is where the noise generated by 

reflection of the hydroacoustic signals from the ADCP renders interpretation of 

observations from this instrument problematic at these depths. 

• What is the range of the vertical scale of the data describing the zone of influence (i.e. 

does it start at zero depth, or at some point below the surface dictated by the limitations 

of the ADCP?). 

• Will the values used to describe current vectors in the “zone of influence” at the surface 

(air-water interface) be actual measurements, or extrapolations?

• Why are current meters not being employed to augment the ADCP for surface current 

measurements? 

26
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

Task (B) 2002 - Determine the parameters of eductor sizing, efficiency, spacing and ability to

replicate bulk flow. 

• What is known about the physics and engineering of large venturi eductors? What are the 

likely problems of scale? Is there a theoretical concept (equation) or rule of thumb 

describing how power/pumping capacity requirements increase as a function of eductor 

diameter to guide the engineering work? 

• Could juvenile salmon be attracted by the flow net created by pumping motive water 

from the river? 

• Would the motive water intakes need to be screened? 

• Would current velocities created by pumping near the motive water intake ever exceed 

the maximum burst swimming speed of a juvenile salmon? 

Task (C ) 2002 - Design and Build a Prototype Environmental Eductor for Deployment 

and Testing. 

What are the engineering and biological criteria that would be used to judge whether it is 

reasonable and prudent to proceed with the large bore prototype? For example, if x describes the 

distance along a horizontal line perpendicular to the direction of thrust in a cross section of the 

“zone of influence”, and v is current velocity, what values of dv/dx are biologically unacceptable?

Practically speaking, at what rates of change in velocity with distance are shear forces sufficient 

to cut the smolt into pieces? Could this project create a “water knife’ that would kill smolts that 

came within range? If it could have been shown that the domain of dv/dx does not include values 

considered lethal, this would have been a big selling point for this proposal. Questions regarding 

potential deleterious effects of the technology on survival of juvenile salmon are raised in the 

proposal but not answered. Some examples follow. Quote from the paper, “Since there are no 

moving parts in the eductor tube, gravels (or fish) can pass through the eductor without damaging 

it – or in the case of fish, damage to themselves.” (About Venturi Eductors, second para.) 

Comment: Moving mechanical parts are not the only things capable of creating physical forces 

that can injure or kill juvenile salmon. Hydraulic forces such as cavitation and shear can also kill 

or injure. Quote from the paper, “(2) The extreme velocities produced at the center of the “zone 

of influence” will cause smolt to shear way, not be entrained, and thus serve as a velocity 

“curtain”.” (Venturi Eductors, third para.) 

 

Quote from the paper, “Since the mining industry has largely been concerned with the amount of 

suction produced, no one has prepared graphs or flow charts for the discharge side of the eductor: 

hence, the purpose of this project. About Venturi Eductors, third para.) Comment: The data from

the discharge side of the eductor should be used in conjunction with biological information 

already available to develop criteria for deciding if development and application of a big bore 

eductor would have the desired positive effects on the survival of the juvenile salmon. See 

http://www.cbfwa.org/files/awp00/projects/20054.htm#reviews. 

Question: How much effluent flow would be needed at a typical far field forebay location? What 

fraction of the average flow of the river in question is 100 cfs? Comments: This raises the 

question of how many of these Venturi eductors would need to be placed in the far field forebay

to have the biological effects intended. Conversions to cfs are as follows: 44,800 gpm is 99.83 cfs 

is about 100cfs. 1000gpm = 2.233 cfs, so 44,800 gpm = about 100 cfs. Approx = 1:7 ratio of 

motive to effluent flow. Would flows of 100 cfs be sufficient? Would more than one eductor of

this size be required? What is the practical limit on the size of venturi eductors, i.e. how much 

27
ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

bigger than 48 inches in diameter can Venturi eductors be constructed? Are there Venturi 

eductors as large as 48 inches in diameter in operation today, or have there ever been historically? 

Task (D) 2002 - Physical Testing Prototype Environmental Eductor - With and Without

Engineered Induced Turbulence 

What biological criteria are to be evaluated during testing of the prototype?

Task (G) (2003) - Evaluation of Natural Like Bypass Inlet and Demonstration of the Behavioral 

Guidance System’s Ability to Entrain Smolt. 

Comment: This needs to happen long before step G.

Conversions

32 inch pipe uses 856 cfm motive to provide 5990 cfm effluent 

32 inch pipe takes 14.27 cfs to provide 99.83 cfs aprox = 1:7 ratio 

5990 cu ft per min = 44,800 gallons per min 

856 cu ft min = 6400 gallons per min 

Flow = 1 = 2.832 x 10-2m3

s

-1/ 1 ft3

s

-1

1 gal per minute = 0.000 0631 cubic meters per sec = 0.134 cubic feet minute = 0.134/60 cfs = 

0.002233 cfs 

Sources used in this review 

Clayton, B. R. and R.E.D. Bishop (1989) Mechanics of Marine Vehicles. Gulf Publishing

Company, Houston (Section 1.4). 

http://www.ex.ac.uk/cimt/dictunit/ccflowv.htm

Independent Scientific Group, Return to the River 2000 (www.nwcouncil.org/library/return/2000-

12.htm), Chapter 6. Hydroelectric System Development: Effects On Juvenile 

And Adult Migration. 

“The role of hydrodynamic features other than thalweg velocity in fish emigration needs to be 

further explored, for a proven link to such features as stage waves and turbulent bursts. A greater 

understanding of hydrodynamic features may offer opportunities for water management that 

could be more effective in moving fish with less water than would current applications, such as 

the water budget.” Return to the River 2000 – Chapter 6 page 217.

The project has some other drawbacks as well. The work will take place in Montana where there 

will not be access to migrating salmon or the dams where problems in passage are proposed to be 

addressed. It is proposed for two years, whereas the request for proposals specifies a limit of 18 

months unless sufficient justification is given for a longer study period. The budget exceeds the 

$200,000 limit (although it appears they would be able to reduce it to meet the cap).

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

ProjectID: 34024 

Integrating remote sensing and topographic indices to detect the impact of invasive species on 

critical winter elk forage areas

Sponsor: Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation 

Province: Columbia Plateau Subbasin: Umatilla 

FY02 Request: $133,677 

Short Description: 

Use remote sensing and GIS analysis in combination with extensive range plots to evaluate the 

30-year historical trend of the impacts of non-native species, cheatgrass and yellow starthistle, on 

critical winter elk forage areas. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

Not fundable, the proposal is inadequate and the innovation is minimal. Reviewers found the 

proposal quite hard to follow. This proposal is innovative in the sense that the proponents propose 

to integrate robust statistical analysis (Neural Networks and Fuzzy Logic) with new remote 

sensing techniques to evaluate the 30-year historical trend of the impacts of non-native species, 

cheatgrass and yellow starthistle, on critical winter elk forage areas. If successful, the techniques 

would have applications elsewhere for monitoring and prediction of the spread of invasive weeds 

on terrestrial rangelands. 

The link to benefit to fish and wildlife is not adequately demonstrated. It is not clear how the 

ground-truthing of this project will be done. The proponents indicate that study sites will be 

located in topographically diverse areas and that ten locations for each plant community (star 

thistle, cheatgrass, perennial grassland) will be monitored for a total of 30 sites, but use of the 

resultant data is only loosely noted. Without some strong ground-truthing criteria, reviewers do 

not see how a convincing history of impact can be reconstructed. Protocols should be given for

site selection. Will sites be in pure stands of cheatgrass, yellow starthistle, and native grasses, or

are mixed stands to be selected? What are the criteria for site selection? 

In addition to the use of data from training sites to refine the classification procedures, additional 

post-classification evaluations of accuracy of maps should be conducted. Double blind 

evaluations should be made. 

Basically, the proposed work would seem simply to look for good spectral signals of cheatgrass 

and star thistle. The data to be used seem too skimpy – images from one very wet year and one 

very dry year to characterize spectral variability; images from 3 years from 1977 to 2001 to 

describe a 30-year history of impact. 

There are many loose, unreferenced statements in the proposal (e.g., ‘these species adapt to and 

modify the environment in order to promote their own establishment’, ‘as few as 10 plants/foot

can seriously impact perennial seedlings’, ‘soil loss is increased by 600% when comparisons are 

made among the deeper rooted species and the shallower rooted species’). The proposal contains 

much generalization from the literature without adequate presentation of rationale. The proposed 

work would seem to continue in the vein of broad generalization with the result that little concrete 

information would be gained. 

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

ProjectID: 34025 

Assess role of estuarine habitat in maintaining chinook salmon life history diversity in the 

Columbia River using remote PIT tag monitoring systems

Sponsor: Oregon State University

Province: Columbia Estuary Subbasin: Mainstem Columbia

FY02 Request: $196,853 

Short Description: Quantify the role of estuarine marsh channels in the behavior, growth and life 

history diversity of sub-yearling salmon using an innovative application of remote monitoring 

stations (antennae) for PIT tags. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

Marginally innovative and the potential benefits from this proposal appear minimal. The project 

proposes to assess the use of PIT tags as a tool for study of estuary use by juvenile chinook 

salmon and would complement work by USFW (Zydlewski et al.) in Abernathy Creek, where 

similar technology is being applied to assess pre-smolt behavior of wild and hatchery salmonids 

(project 200101200 and proposal 30008). While the question being studied could be important in 

demonstrating the value of estuary habitats for fall chinook salmon, reviewers see little new 

information that this proposal would provide. The use of PIT tags and the development of the 

new antennae arrays are not really innovative and the proposed use is only marginally so. Further, 

the scale of the program would have to be very limited given only three arrays and the need to 

monitor direction of passage. The proposal is limited in scope and numbers of tags. Apparently, 

PIT tags and the antennae are effective in saltwater but this should have been documented in the 

proposal. The study itself is limited to the upper estuary. 

ProjectID: 34028 

Innovative Technologies for Mapping Large Woody Debris and Assessing Fish Distribution

Sponsor: Battelle Marine Sciences Laboratory

Province: Columbia Estuary Subbasin: Mainstem Columbia

FY02 Request: $172,358 

Short Description: Evaluate side scan sonar as mapping tool for subtidal large woody debris

(LWD) and develop protocols for its use. Evaluate the DIDSON acoustic camera for assessing 

fish distribution in relation to LWD. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

Not fundable. Although innovative, the proposal is technically inadequate and the results would 

not likely be of significant benefit to fish and wildlife. The proposal definitely involves 

innovative equipment but the proposal did not really address any of the concerns (i.e., shallow 

water habitats and fish species identification) noted in the ISRP comments in the Columbia 

Estuary provincial review of proposal 30014, Map Subtidal Large Woody Debris and Other 

Habitat Features in Relation to Fish Distribution in the Lower Columbia River Estuary

(www.cbfwa.org/files/province/estuary/projects/30014.htm). 

The project does not link its technique testing and survey protocols well to specific questions 

about how juvenile salmonids use the estuary and what critical things we need to know in those 

habitats. The project focuses primarily on technique testing. While the purpose of the Innovative 

Solicitation is to bring new ideas and test new applications of techniques to Columbia River 

Basin salmon issues, this proposal seems like it needs more background work showing that the 

techniques can adequately assess habitat and fish (including IDs) accurately (or within acceptable 

limits). As it is, the proposal has two major uncertainties: one, whether the techniques can 

adequately assess habitats and identify juvenile salmonids and species; and two, how these data 

will provide something specifically useful about estuary habitats that we currently do not have 

(our lack of knowledge on subtidal LWD, notwithstanding). A far more direct means to examine 

this habitat would be to construct study sites and monitor fish use rather than passively sample

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habitats with advanced electronics as proposed here. There is no study design established, so we 

cannot assess procedures, methods, etc. 

ProjectID: 34031 

Biological and Economic Feasibility of Reintroducing Fishwheels to the Columbia River System

Sponsor: Steward and Associates 

Province: Lower Columbia Subbasin: Cowlitz 

FY02 Request: $260,525 (Request for over $200K was an oversight. Sponsor resubmitted budget

for $199,945). 

Short Description: This project will determine whether fishwheels can be successfully 

constructed and profitably operated under the current regulatory and economic constraints that 

govern Columbia River fisheries. 

ISRP Comment and Recommendations:

The technology is not innovative. The questions regarding implementation are primarily

regulatory and social rather than technical. The ISRP agrees that the re-introduction of fishwheels 

as a selective fishing technique would be useful for the Columbia River Basin allowing 

harvestable numbers of healthy stocks of salmon or steelhead to be captured and kept, while fish 

from other stocks could be released alive to continue to the spawning grounds or hatcheries. 

The proposal states, “A key question is whether fishwheels can be successfully constructed and 

operated under the current regulatory and economic constraints that govern Columbia River 

fisheries” (p. 2). The ISRP raised these questions in our previous review of a similar proposal 

submitted for the FY2001 Innovative Solicitation ("Live Capture Harvest,” #22066; 

www.cbfwa.org/2001/innovative/projects/22066.htm). 

A fish wheel is a sampling appliance, like a gill net or a fish trap. Its success at capturing and 

keeping fish alive is well established. There should be no doubt that a fishwheel can be 

constructed. If they decide to give it a try, there are a number of companies (i.e. LGL Sidney,

BC, Canada) that can install and demonstrate the operation of fish wheels for catching salmon 

alive. The implementation issue is a policy concern, about whether or not non-lethal harvesting 

makes sense in a situation where there is very high pressure to provide fishing opportunity to

treaty fishing tribes, while at the same time the ESA requires separating endangered and 

threatened fish from hatchery fish. 

Fishwheels were used extensively in the Columbia River prior to being outlawed by the initiative 

process in the state of Washington, followed soon by Oregon. The question is whether its 

operation will be permitted. The law does not apply to treaty tribes, as long as the tribe adopts an 

appropriate regulation for the fishery (U.S. v Oregon and Washington, 1969). Since the Cowlitz 

Tribe is sponsoring the proposal, it would seem reasonable for the tribe to adopt (or have 

adopted?) a regulation permitting the operation of fishwheels in the areas proposed, thus 

addressing the question whether operation of a fishwheel would be permitted pursuant to fishery

regulations. The proposal does not address whether other regulatory agencies need to be 

consulted. These might include NMFS, the Corps of Engineers, other treaty tribes with rights to 

fish in the areas proposed, and others. We see no discussion of these points, which the sponsor

itself identifies as key questions. These are administrative questions that are not dealt with in the

methods or tasks section of the proposal. 

Regarding the economics, not a lot of details are provided as to how the economics and 

regulatory issues will be analyzed. Reference is made to a "market analysis" and a simulation 

model to assess costs and benefits, but those references suggest that economic feasibility will 

depend on showing higher total returns (revenues minus costs) with fishwheel technology versus 

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

gillnets. This is really not an issue, as we know that fishwheels would be more cost-effective 

overall than gillnets, nor is it the point. With regard to the economics of fishing technology, the 

economic question is as much the distribution of net revenues as the amount. Economic issues 

related to allocation and distribution are what underlay the "political wrangling" the proposal 

cites as the reason for their discontinuance in the past. And the "carefully stated assumptions and 

constraints" on the simulation model (p.8), would probably have to assume away these 

complexities. 

There is an inaccuracy in one statement in the proposal ... Aboriginal fishers in BC are not using 

these as a fishing technique to replace their past practices, at present the wheels operating in BC 

are experimental and associated with research or assessment programs. There are locations, 

however, where the wheels are very effective and could be used as a selective fishing tool. Their 

success is very site specific. From a strictly technical perspective, the ISRP supports developing 

this prototype fishwheel as a demonstration program, but any proposal would need to be more 

specific about the criteria to be used for evaluating performance, i.e. what gear types would it be

compared against, and what potential advantages would be measured?

The original budget request was for $260,000, which exceeds the maximum specified in the RFP; 

the sponsor revised the budget to $199,945. 

ProjectID: 34032 

Otolith Marking using Portable Mist Incubation

Sponsor: Alaska Resource & Economic Development, Inc. 

Province: Columbia Estuary Subbasin: Grays 

FY02 Request: $121,952 

Short Description: Development of Otolith Marking in a Mist Incubation environment using 

three methods 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments: 

Not fundable, only marginally innovative, and not an adequate proposal. The technique has 

already been tested. The concept, a modular transportable system for applying thermal marks to 

wild-spawning salmon, has been demonstrated in Alaska by the Northern Regional Aquaculture 

Association (Sitka, AK; Steve Reifenstuhl, 907-747-850) in cooperation with NOAA Fisheries 

Auke Bay Lab (Juneau; Don Mortensen, 907-789-6088). They used streamside incubators, 

recirculating water during marking, and propane heaters. They marked several hundred thousand 

pink salmon at Auke Creek, Juneau, and chum salmon on a stream on Kuiu Island. Mortensen is 

preparing a technical memorandum reporting their results. 

The proposal seeks to establish the effectiveness of creating pre-hatch thermal marks with mist 

incubation by testing three approaches, but provides little detail about these tests. It may be that

use of a mist incubator would save energy costs and constitute a significant innovation; the 

proposers report that they have experience with mist incubation systems but give no information 

about that experience. The proposal cites unpublished report of Alaska trials as its only reference 

in the technical background. Tasks and methods are provided in abbreviated form. The proposers 

have not developed protocols for testing and demonstrating the proposed system (task 1 is to 

collaborate with WDFW to do so, but there is no indication from WDFW of its commitment to do 

so; tasks 3, 4, and 5 indicate a conceptual plan for methods but no rigorous plan is presented; task 

6, develop an otolith remover isn’t needed, technicians with knives and forceps are quite 

efficient.) The proposal presents no conceptual design for the ‘connex’ trailer facility. Not much 

more detail is given on the techniques or its application in the Columbia River Basin. Overall, this

is an incomplete proposal. 

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review

ProjectID: 34033 

Demonstrate novel methods of mist incubation and mechanical egg planting in salmon 

restoration.

Sponsor: Alaska Resource & Economic Development, Inc. 

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $200,000 ($622,324 with proposed cost-share) 

Short Description: Documentation of methods and procedures for mist incubation and 

mechanical egg planting in two separate systems and the collaborative authoring of a procedures 

manual for application of this innovative technology 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

This proposal is not fundable, innovative, or technically justified. This sister proposal to 34032 is 

slightly more complete, but has similar problems. The technique is at most marginally innovative, 

as it is well known and has been in use for a decade in Alaska. There is no indication of the need 

for these techniques or of how the techniques will be integrated into restoration in any subbasin. 

Mist incubation is not new (ARED will provide the technology as part of cost sharing but there’s 

no documentation of the existence of the technology). The egg planter is not new, and was 

developed and patented 20 years ago. Transportable, modular, incubation systems are not new 

and have been developed, for instance, by NSRAA and NOAA Fisheries Auke Bay Lab (see 

comment on 34032). The budget is not explained or justified; there are large matches of cash 

from PEW and the Southeast Salmon Recovery Fund that are not documented; there are several

cooperators indicated but no documentation of what their role would be. 

Additionally, a big portion of the large budget is to collate and publish standard operating 

procedures, which after 10 years of application in Alaska are probably already developed. Why

do mist incubation units have to be designed if they are already in application? The tasks and 

methods are very sparse. 

ProjectID: 34034 

High-Speed Fish Screen for Irrigation Diversion

Sponsor: West Extension Irrigation District 

Province: Columbia Plateau Subbasin: John Day

FY02 Request: $200,000 

Short Description: Install a high-speed fish screen at the lower pump station for the West 

Extension Irrigation District (Public) and L3 Farms (Private). 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments:

Not fundable, the proposal is not adequate. This brief proposal leaves too many unaddressed 

issues for it to be supported at this point. The screen appears to be marginally innovative (used in 

Alberta previously), and there is no mention of monitoring for effectiveness. The pilot scale 

evaluation described in the Canadian reference, and observations of the screen in Willow Creek, 

Alberta, do not adequately demonstrate the ability of the screen to pass salmonids with minimal 

injury. Has the design been reviewed and endorsed by NMFS or Oregon agencies? 

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ISRP 2002-8 Innovative Review 

34

ProjectID: 34037 

Analysis of alternative hatchery and fishery configurations in the Columbia River Basin

Sponsor: S.P. Cramer and Associates 

Province: Systemwide 

FY02 Request: $67,200 

Short Description: Quantify the potential effects of changes in 1) hatchery number, location, 

species, production, and marking and 2) fishing methods, closures, or reconfiguration on hatchery 

salmon returns, harvest benefits, and wild population risks. 

ISRP Recommendation and Comments: 

Not fundable, the proposal is technically inadequate, and innovation is not demonstrated. While 

this proposal suggests the work would be innovative, the proposal provides too little detail for 

reviewers to assess the value of the work or innovative nature. The proposal seems overly 

simplistic in its interpretation of what would be required to assess alternative hatchery and fishery 

configurations. The proposal makes no comment on issues of limiting factors to production, 

environmental trends and issues, estimation methods or modeling procedures, etc. The issue is 

substantially more complicated than portrayed: how would completeness of release records be 

evaluated, how will catch for release groups without tag allocations be estimated, how will 

optimality evaluated and against what standards? Activities proposed appear to be duplicative to 

some extent of activities already underway on an annual cycle at ODFW, WDFW, IDFG, 

PSMFC, PFMC, and PSC. 

It is hard to believe that the 400 hours of time proposed in this project will lead to important new 

insights on altering how hatcheries and fisheries are regulated in the Columbia River Basin. The 

current configuration of hatcheries in the Columbia River Basin and of fisheries on Columbia 

River salmon is a complex mosaic that has been set in concrete by a series of events over the past 

147 years. Knowing how to configure hatchery production and fisheries in order to meet any set 

of arbitrary political and/or biological objectives is a relatively minor task compared to the social 

and political heavy lifting that has to occur before such objectives can be agreed upon, and the 

decisions taken to implement the agreements. 

The PI has a known track record, as does the firm he works through, which inspires some 

confidence; however, as stated above, the proposal is technically inadequate. 

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