159 



■i^*^ 4 S.P. Cramer & Associates, Inc. 



I ^^E Fisheries Consultants 



300 &E. Arrow Cr««k Lar^ 

 Gresham, OR 97080 

 \\.MWUB S03-«€9-0133 503-669-3437 (FAX) 



May 23. 1995 



^1 



Earl Dawiey 



National Marine Fisheries Service 



Point Adams Field Station 



P.O. Box 165 



Hammond. OR 97121 



Dear Earl: 



We greatly appreciate the opportunities you gave Ken Witty and Jerry Bouck to 

 accompany your field crews, and observe your field studies to evaluate the prevalence 

 of gas bubble disease (GBD) in the Snake and Columbia rivers. Ken Witty 

 accompanied your crew to the live cages below Ice Harbor and examined some of the 

 fish on May 8 and May 1 1 . He also accompanied the electrofishing crew at that location 

 on May 1 1 . Jerry Bouck accompanied your crew to the live cages below Bonneville 

 Dam and examined some of the fish on May 9. You and your staff have been most 

 cooperative and pleasant to work with. Both Ken and Jerry were impressed with the 

 dedication and industriousness of your field crews. 



No one appreciates uninvited criticism, and here I am writing to offer you some 

 constructive suggestions. We share with you a strong desire to preserve the salmon 

 runs in trie Columbia Basin, so we know that you want your studies to produce valid 

 findings. We have some suggestions to offer that we believe are essential in order for 

 your findings to be fully valid. We are aware that your field studies are just getting 

 under way, and that you may already have made some of the adjustments we suggest. 

 We have invested time in writing these suggestions, because we think your work is 

 extremely valuable. Your live cages afford an opportunity count dead and traumatized 

 fish after several days of exposure to the river, whereas such fish may never turn up at 

 the smolt collection facilities or in beach or purse seme catches. We believe that 

 traumatized fish are abnormally vulnerable to predators, such that a disproportionately 

 low number of these fish show up at collection facilities or in seine or electrofishing 

 catches. 



GENERAL COMMENTS 



Field personnel need specific training on fish processing and examination 



