225 



accomplished via continued declines in smolt to adult 

 survival? p 28. 



Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority. 

 State and Tribal Analytical Team 



XXXVI. The Team's analyses did not specifically investigate 

 any flow augmentation strategies nor did they 

 explicitly address this question from an indirect 

 approach through a systematic comparison of different 

 flow levels, p 1. 



XXXVII. Conclusions drawn from the Team's interpretation of 

 modeling results in Chapter VIII appear to be driven by 

 their judgement that transportation is highly 

 effective. This is reflected in their selective 

 presentation of modeling results, and manipulation and 

 reinterpretation of these results, p 2. 



XXXVIII. The Team recommended improved collection and 

 transportation as the preferred recovery option. . . 

 without any specific explanations of how to attain 

 sufficient improvements to recover wild salmon. 

 Several of the Team's generalized recommendations. . . 

 point to the serious problems with the current 

 transportation program, including crowding, stress, 

 disease and biological unknowns . . . p 2 . 



XXXIX. Despite transporting up to 80% of the spring/summer 

 Chinook smolts passing Lower Granite Dam . . . the 

 stocks have continued to decline under average and poor 

 flow conditions. These declines do not support the 

 statement that "transportation of smolts around the 

 dams has significantly increased the number of adults 

 returning to the Snake River." p 2. 



XL. The Team's review of transportation studies should have 



recognized that there were serious problems with the studies 

 cited (page 22-23) regarding inferences to wild salmon 

 returns . . . p 2 . 



XLI. A more comprehensive review of transportation also would 

 have indicated that transport to "control" ratios often 

 decline upstream of Bonneville Dam. The pattern is apparent 

 for both Snake River and mid-Columbia River stocks, 

 suggesting a homing problem, p 3. 



XLII The effects of flow augmentation on the survival of 



listed Snake River Chinook stocks was not addressed in 

 the Team's Plan, p 3. 



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