

164 



S.P. Cramer & Associates, Inc. "p,mcv Mo 



Rshef ies Consultants ij*-^^v^*_^ 



300 &E. Arrow Cr»«k Lane ' — - 



Gresham. OR 97060 

 503-«e9-0133 503-669-3437 (FAX) 



May 26, 1995 



Or. Allan Marmelstein 



Director, NW Natural Science Center 



National Biological Service 



BIdg 204 Naval Station 



Seattle, WA 981 1 5-5007 



Dear Dr. Marmelstein: 



We laeiieve there is an excellent opportunity to augment the ongoing sampling for signs 

 of gas bubble disease (GBD) in the Columbia River, through work conducted by your 

 staff for other purposes. As we understand it, Or Tom Poe will t>e collecting resident 

 fish along the shoreline of John Day Reservoir during the week of June 5th, as baseline 

 information for future draw-down tests, but does not anticipate examining these for 

 GBD. We understand how busy your staff must be, and therefore seek your permission 

 to provide the examinations for GBD at not cost to the government. We are fonmalizing 

 this request because we were recently denied access to fish being examined for GBD 

 signs by your staff. We are precluded from doing our own sampling, because we 

 cannot obtain the r>ecessary ESA permits before the spill season has passed. 



As you probably know, there is a paucity of data regarding the effects of gas 

 supersaturation on resident fish in the shallow, but productive, littoral zone. To my 

 knowledge, no one is specifically studying the effects of gas supersaturation on this 

 important zone in the Columbia And Snake Rivers Additionally, a recent report by 

 Donna Lutz (Trans. Am . Fish. Soc. 124:423-426) demonstrated that periodic fish kills 

 from gas supersaturation can result from reseo/oir draw downs similar to that 

 anticipated in John Day Reservoir. Therefore, we believe there is an important 

 scientific opportunity available to the Region that can be captured with the cooperation 

 of your staff. 



We would be pleased if Dr Alec Maule and his staff (NBS) could complete the 

 examinations rather than us. Dr Jerry Bouck and Ken Witty of my staff have observed 

 Dr.Maule and his staff examining fish in the Snake and Columbia rivers for signs of 

 GBD. As is characteristic of Alec, we found his work and that of his staff to be highly 

 credible. Alec and his aew were following clearly defined protocols, were well trained 

 in their task, and were properly equipped to complete their tasks. 



