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| A | 202650 | 185 | Produce CBFish Status Report | Periodic Status Reports for BPA | The Contractor shall report on the status of milestones and deliverables in Pisces. Reports shall be completed either monthly or quarterly as determined by the BPA COTR. Additionally, when indicating a deliverable milestone as COMPLETE, the contractor shall provide metrics and the final location (latitude and longitude) prior to submitting the report to the BPA COTR. | $919 | 0.10% | 07/01/2020 | 04/30/2021 |
| B | 202651 | 165 | Produce Environmental Compliance Documentation | Complete All Environmental Compliance Tasks - No Ground Disturbance Activities within SOW | All work to obtain permits and gain environmental compliance will be completed | $0 | 0.00% | 05/01/2020 | 04/30/2021 |
| C | 202652 | 119 | Manage and Administer Projects | Manage and Administer Kootenai River Resident Fish Mitigation Project | The Principal Fisheries Research Biologist will manage and administer funding and studies contract to the Bonneville Power Administration this will be overseen by the IDFG Fisheries Research Manager | $60,000 | 6.37% | 05/01/2020 | 04/30/2021 |
| D | 202653 | 157 | Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data | White sturgeon spawning evaluation | Benthic egg mats will be used to evaluate the spatial and temporal extent of spawning throughout the post-Libby dam spawning reach. Egg mats will be placed up river from the town of Bonners Ferry to seek a determination if habitat restoration actions are providing incentive for more adults to migrate up to, and into the canyon reach where more suitable spawning substrate exists. (rkms > 246). | $45,000 | 4.78% | 05/01/2020 | 10/30/2020 |
| E | 202654 | 157 | Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data | White sturgeon larval hatching sampling | IDFG Staff samples with plankton nets to collect and evaluate any natural hatching and drifting sturgeon free embryos, or larvae. Plankton nets will be fished passively, and may be set in place overnight when favorable conditions allow. | $45,000 | 4.78% | 05/01/2020 | 04/30/2021 |
| F | 202655 | 157 | Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data | Juvenile white sturgeon recruitment and evaluation | Juvenile white sturgeon are to be sampled for utilizing 2, 4, and 6 inch stretch gill nets. This sampling assists in determining year class abundance of wild vs. hatchery fish and their survival. Vital characteristics of wild and hatchery reared juvenile sturgeon are being learned and differentiated when possible. (Statistical modeling can be further developed) The potential is to understand the survival ratio of hatchery vs. wild sturgeon. Capture of wild juveniles provides evidence of natural recruitment and their potential contribution to year classes. Derived data may further lead to actionable measures to further promote natural recruitment. | $55,000 | 5.84% | 05/01/2020 | 11/02/2020 |
| G | 202656 | 157 | Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data | White sturgeon movement evaluation | White sturgeon will be captured and tagged with Vemco sonic transmitters. Movement throughout the Kootenai River/Kootenay Lake system will be determined with stationary an array of Vemco VR2W receivers which extends from the Sturgeon hole in Montana at rkm 310 downstream to Kootenay Lake as far as rkm 18 near the Lardeau River delta. Real time active tracking and position monitoring will be determined during critical periods with Vemco VR-100 receivers. This receiver array allows us to determine fish movement and behavioral responses to Libby dam operations as well as other mitigation measures (discharge and temperature). In addition to general large scale movement monitoring with the Vemco VR2W array, this work element will also include incorporating Vemco's VPS which will allow us to evaluate finer scale sturgeon movements in the straight reach (rkm 244-246). | $70,000 | 7.43% | 05/01/2020 | 01/29/2021 |
| H | 202657 | 157 | Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data | Adult White sturgeon sampling | This work element involves collecting adult sturgeon with setlines or by angling. The purpose is to evaluate changes in stock status and catch rates, to check for presence of tags or previous marks for abundance and survival evaluation, to collect specimens to tag for movement evaluation studies, and to evaluate physical health of a sample of the population. This data is critically important, there is potential that the first cohorts of hatchery reared fish to begin to recruit to adult sampling methods. Sexual maturity of fish may be evaluated by checking for milt in males or eggs within females. | $145,000 | 15.39% | 05/01/2020 | 01/29/2021 |
| I | 202658 | 157 | Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data | Evaluate biological response to KTOI habitat enhancement projects | This work element pertains specifically to evaluating the biological response to the habitat projects in and above the Straight reach near Bonners Ferry (rkms> 246). First, we will determine use of the structures by spawning female sturgeon using a Vemco VPS telemetry system, second we will evaluate whether adult sturgeon spawn on the habitat structures by using our standard egg mats, and finally we will evaluate if any successful hatching and subsequent drift occurs by using D-ring plankton nets. Although these 3 methods have been used for many years in this program, we have altered our standard sampling methods and have developed protocols and study designs specific to evaluate these habitat structures. | $121,000 | 12.85% | 05/01/2020 | 01/29/2021 |
| J | 202659 | 132 | Produce Progress (Annual) Report | Complete Comprehensive Project Report for Sturgeon, Burbot ,& Nutrient | A comprehensive draft annual report will be prepared including all studies completed by the IDFG. This report will include results from White sturgeon and burbot recruitment evaluation, as well as nutrient restoration and native salmonid studies. This report will also include major research findings from other contracted studies including tributary investigations. | $100,000 | 10.62% | 05/01/2020 | 04/30/2021 |
| K | 202660 | 157 | Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data | Evaluate Burbot early life history: field evaluations | The Burbot population in the Kootenai basin has been in decline since the mid-1960s, culminating in a closure of both recreational and commercial fisheries in Idaho and British Columbia in 1992 and 1997, respectively. Because the Kootenai River Burbot stock is so limited (Paragamian and Laude 2008), the introduction of a genetically similar donor stock was found to be a useful approach to enhance the population via conservation aquaculture.
Since 2009, intensive culture techniques developed by the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, BC Ministry of Forest, Land, Natural Resource Operations, and Rural Development, the University of Idaho Aquaculture Research Institute, and Idaho Department of Fish and Game have become important restoration measures for Burbot in the Kootenai River. The objective of the project is to restore the Burbot population in the Idaho reach of the Kootenai River in order to provide an annual sustainable harvest of Burbot.
This work element contains specific early life history evaluations aimed at characterizing survival, growth, and distribution of larval-released Burbot in the Kootenai River basin. More specifically targeted releases of genetically tagged Burbot occur in different main- and off-channel habitats in the basin, as well as at different developmental stages. If fish from the various release groups are encountered in hoopnets at later dates, inferences will be made regarding early life history needs and bottlenecks, with the ultimate objective of estimating survival of fish from different experimental releases. | $85,000 | 9.02% | 05/01/2020 | 04/30/2021 |
| L | 202661 | 157 | Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data | Evaluate juvenile and adult Burbot population dynamics | We will document trends in the adult and juvenile Burbot population using hoop nets throughout the Kootenai River in Idaho and British Columbia. Numbers and distribution of adults and juveniles will be documented in established trend locations, and biological information including length, weight, genetics, and presence of PIT tags or other identifying marks on adult and juvenile Burbot will be recorded.
Burbot movements and responses to mitigation actions will be evaluated with passive telemetry techniques. We will analyze existing telemetry data and deploy additional tags. We will surgically implant VEMCO sonic transmitters in Burbot to better understand general movement patterns and behaviors, as well as spawning migrations, especially as they pertain to varying flows and water temperatures released from Libby Dam during the winter months.
In addition to measuring spawn timing, frequency, and response to environmental conditions using passive telemetry techniques, we will also use PIT tag technology. Many Burbot have been released from the University of Idaho Aquatic Research Institute and from the Kootenai Tribal hatchery that were marked with PIT tags. Therefore, a half and full duplex (HDX and FDX, respectively) array will be operated in Deep Creek to determine if hatchery Burbot are using tributary habitats to spawn once they reach sexual maturity.
In an effort to reduce logistical hurdles, tag loss, and costs associated with tagging large numbers of KTOI hatchery Burbot prior to release, Parental Based Tagging (PBT) markers and techniques (Anderson and Garza 2005) were developed by the IDFG Eagle Fish Genetics Laboratory in concert with University of Idaho personnel. A 100% assignment rate using SNIP markers was developed and made available in 2013. Assuming the few adult Burbot from future KTOI hatchery spawning operations (approx. 60 fish) are genotyped annually, all future hatchery progeny will be effectively marked with a genetic tag. Subsequently, Burbot captured across the basin that do not have PIT tags could have tissues sampled to determine family of origin along with all desired stocking year and/or rearing information. The small cost of developing and testing this marking approach is built into the deliverable budget. | $145,000 | 15.39% | 05/01/2020 | 04/30/2021 |
| M | 202662 | 189 | Coordination-Columbia Basinwide | Coordination of transboundary Burbot and sturgeon studies with BCME | This Work Element is a contract with the British Columbia Ministry of Environment. This Work Element will be implemented by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment. Sampling of burbot and white sturgeon will be coordinated by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game in British Columbia waters with the British Columbia Ministry of Environment | $20,000 | 2.12% | 05/01/2020 | 04/30/2021 |
| N | 202663 | 157 | Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data | Ecosystem Restoration: Fish Population Monitoring | The Ecosystem Restoration Project is a collaborative effort between the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho (KTOI) and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG). Technical support is received from the International Kootenai River Ecosystem Restoration Team and the Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative. The IDFG is responsible for evaluating the response of the resident fish populations in the Kootenai River to various habitat projects and changes and the addition of nutrients. | $45,000 | 4.78% | 05/01/2020 | 04/30/2021 |
| O | 202664 | 157 | Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data | Rainbow Trout Recruitment and Early Life History | Phase 2 of a comprehensive otolith microchemistry study will be completed to determine the tributaries of origin of adult Rainbow Trout collected in the Idaho and Montana portions of the Kootenai River. This is a collaborative study with the New Mexico Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. Pursuance of this study was contingent upon (1) a pilot study that was completed in 2014-15 and (2) the successful completion of Phase 1 of the project in 2015. | $5,000 | 0.53% | 05/01/2020 | 04/30/2021 |
SOW Report
