Another problem has beenttiat the fishery agencies and tribes in the basin do not 

 believe they have been allowed to participate adequately in decisions on the type of 

 research funded by Bonneville The Council believes it is the intent of the Northwest Power 

 Act that the fish and wildlife agencies and tribes have an integral role in research planning. 



There also has been no central policy forum where results of salmon and steelhead 

 research funded under the program can be evaluated to determine their quality as well as 

 their implications for management decision making. As a result, there is no way to ensure 

 new knowledge is distributed so that all affected agencies and tribes, power managers and 

 other resource managers are working with the same information. 



Finally, in the past there have been disagreements about how to allocate test fish. In 

 some cases there have not been enough fish to carry out all the experiments scheduled. In 

 part, this is because test fish requirements were identified after the hatchery production 

 schedules had been met. New procedures to allocate test fish before production schedules 

 are set have been initiated by the fish and wildlife agencies. However, it appears 

 disagreement will continue about allocation of test fish until long-term research plans and 

 priorities are identified. 



The Council proposes to address these problems in the following ways. First, the 

 Council proposes guiding principles which will provide the foundation and direction for the 

 development of a comprehensive salmon and steelhead research program geared to 

 meeting the objectives of the program itself. Second, the Council proposes six areas of 

 emphasis for allocation of research funds by the Corps and Bonneville over the next five 

 years. Third, the Council proposes to establish a system monitoring and evaluation work 



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