There are good examples of research results that have clearly benefited the fisheries resource in 

 the Columbia River Basin. Some notable highlights include: 



1. The development of the Oregon Moist Pellet diet in the 1960s allowed consistent and convenient 

 hatchery fish feeding without exposing fish to diseases previously present in fish foods. 



2. New techniques have appreciably increased the success of diagnosing fish diseases. The 

 capability to treat diseases through antibiotics and to prevent them through segregation and 

 improved hatchery practices also has improved. 



3. The development of the coded-wire tag allowed monitoring of specific groups of fish and has 

 been an important tool in harvest management. 



4. An internal fish tag termed the PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tag allows marl<ing of 

 individual fish and offers considerable promise for mainstem passage and other research. 



5. Mainstem dam operations have been changed in response to research results. For example, 

 research led to changed spill procedures that reduced nitrogen supersaturation (gas bubble 

 disease). 



6. Size limits for upriver sturgeon harvest recently were changed as a result of research. 



Monitoring 



Monitoring is also an important component of fisheries management in the Columbia River Basin. 

 The smolt monitoring program conducted by the fishery agencies and tribes' Fish Passage Center has 

 been an important part of the fish and wildlife program water budget provisions for many years. 

 Information from this program is used by the agencies and tribes annually to manage the water budget 

 and other fish passage actions at mainstem projects. Bonneville spends some $1 to $2 million each 

 year for mainstem smolt monitoring. Bonneville has also funded evaluation studies on the efficacy of 

 fish and wildlife program habitat improvement projects in Idaho and Washington. 



The management agencies conduct extensive monitoring outside the fish and wildlife program. 

 For example, the Corps monitors the passage of adult fish past each of its projects, while the mid- 

 Columbia Public Utility Districts conduct similar monitoring at some of their projects. The fishery 

 agencies and tribes conduct a large scale program to monitor catch, escapements, and other fisheries 

 data coastwide, primarily for harvest and other management decisions. 



RESEARCH AND MONITORING IN THE FISH AND WILDLIFE PROGRAM 



The 1987 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program outlined a salmon and steelhead 

 research and monitoring program (Section 206). The Council's objective was to end research 

 fragmentation by establishing overall areas of emphasis, to provide a process for long-term research 

 planning, and to improve the participation of interested parties in research planning. 



For research funded by Bonneville, the program identified four areas of emphasis: studying 

 reservoir mortality and water budget effectiveness, solving disease problems affecting spring and 

 summer Chinook, increasing the effectiveness of hatchery production, and improving supplementation 



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