Introduction | People | Fish | Habitat Activities | Index | Feedback | New Activities Fisheries Monitoring Scenario Method: Students learn first-hand the problems facing fisheries managers by developing their own fisheries management budget and research plan. Objectives: Students will be able to: Discuss why monitoring fish populations is important. Develop a multi-year fisheries management plan and budget. Materials Needed: Scenario map Calculator Monitoring Scenario One Monitoring Scenario Two Monitoring Scenario Three Survey Methods Preparation: You may want to read the Fisheries Research Methods activity first, or do it with your students. It will help familiarize you with the techniques discussed here. Background: There are many research methods used by fisheries managers to assess salmon run strength and stock health. These methods vary tremendously in accuracy, cost, staffing needs, equipment, and training required. Managers usually don't have a budget large enough to cover all the research needs in their areas. This forces them to prioritize the projects that they do. A manager may choose to use a more accurate and expensive counting method on a river with a very large salmon run, or one that is especially important to local residents. Managers often have to use a less accurate counting method because it is less expensive and better fits the constraints of their budget. An example would be doing an aerial survey on a spawning stream rather than installing a weir or counting tower. Procedure: Divide your class into teams of two or three students each. Hand out the three management scenarios among the groups. This will allow the students to develop and discuss different management priorities and strategies. Provide each student team with a print out of the survey methods available. Discussion Have each student team read their scenario to the class, then present their monitoring plans. Discuss the following: The difficulty of gathering accurate scientific data over such a large and remote area. The economic reality of making management decisions based on limited budget and personnel. The pressures various political, cultural, and economic groups may place on a fisheries manager. Monitoring Scenario One You are the Tribal Government Resource Management Specialist. Recently, you have been given the job of finding out how many salmon are spawning in the rivers and streams on tribal lands. Salmon are the most important subsistence food of the people in the villages along these rivers. Commercial fishing for salmon also provides the most jobs in your area. Important events to consider: The early reports from fishermen and fisheries researchers at the mouth of the brown River show that this year may be the lowest return of Chinook salmon on record. A mining company from Colorado is considering purchasing private land in the headwaters of the Black River for a large gold mine. The village of Snowshoe is requesting that information be collected about the number of salmon spawning in this river so they can fight to halt the development. There are 7 primary rivers under your management where salmon spawn. You have a yearly budget of $450,000. A total of $150,000 can be spent each year to purchase needed equipment. The $300,000 left is your annual budget for operating field projects. You need to make a three- year monitoring plan that will help you determine as accurately as possible how many salmon spawn within the whole system. Purple River: Over 350 feet wide, and very muddy. The Purple River has a run of salmon that's extremely important to the subsistence and commercial economy of area communities. White River: This is a fairly narrow, shallow, clear-water stream, but it often floods getting deep and muddy when rainstorms occur. This stream is one of the most important spawning areas for Chinook salmon in the Interior. Blue River: This is a clear-water river, less than 300 feet wide and 4 feet deep. Brown River: This river is almost a half mile wide, very deep and muddy. The Brown River runs over 2,000 miles from the ocean, through your tribal government lands, and on into Canada. There are 20 Native villages along this river inside the U.S. that harvest salmon for subsistence and commercial use. These fish are important to villages in Canada, too. Native tribes in Canada and the Canadian government are concerned that you may be taking too many of the fish that are returning to spawn in Canada. Green River: This river is over 350 feet wide, 20 feet deep and muddy. The Green River has one of the largest chum salmon runs inside the United States. Many villages in your area harvest fish that originate from this system. Black River: This river is about 200 feet wide. The Black River is normally clear but heavy rains and floods in summer often make the water too muddy to see through. Yellow River: This river is over 500 feet wide, deep and muddy. Salmon in the Yellow River are important to commercial and subsistence fishermen on both sides of the border. Monitoring Scenario Two You are the Tribal Government Resource Management Specialist. Recently, you have been given the job of finding out how many salmon are spawning in the rivers and streams on tribal lands. Salmon are the most important subsistence food of the people in the villages along these rivers. Commercial fishing for salmon also provides the most jobs in your area. Important events to consider: Native tribes in Canada are reporting reduced catches and fewer fish spawning in area streams. The Canadian government is very concerned that you may be taking too many of the fish that are destined to spawn in Canada. There are 7 primary rivers under your management where salmon spawn. You have a yearly budget of $450,000. A total of $150,000 can be spent each year to purchase needed equipment. The $300,000 left is your annual budget for operating field projects. You need to make a three- year monitoring plan that will help you determine as accurately as possible how many salmon spawn within the whole system. Purple River: Over 350 feet wide, and very muddy. The Purple River has a run of salmon that's extremely important to the subsistence and commercial economy of area communities. White River: This is a fairly narrow, shallow, clear-water stream, but it often floods getting deep and muddy when rainstorms occur. This stream is one of the most important spawning areas for Chinook salmon in the Interior. Blue River: This is a clear-water river, less than 300 feet wide and 4 feet deep. Brown River: This river is almost a half mile wide, very deep and muddy. The Brown River runs over 2,000 miles from the ocean, through your tribal government lands, and on into Canada. There are 20 Native villages along this river inside the U.S. that harvest salmon for subsistence and commercial use. These fish are important to villages in Canada, too. Native tribes in Canada and the Canadian government are concerned that you may be taking too many of the fish that are returning to spawn in Canada. Green River: This river is over 350 feet wide, 20 feet deep and muddy. The Green River has one of the largest chum salmon runs inside the United States. Many villages in your area harvest fish that originate from this system. Black River: This river is about 200 feet wide. The Black River is normally clear but heavy rains and floods in summer often make the water too muddy to see through. Yellow River: This river is over 500 feet wide, deep and muddy. Salmon in the Yellow River are important to commercial and subsistence fishermen on both sides of the border. Monitoring Scenario Three You are the Tribal Government Resource Management Specialist. Recently, you have been given the job of finding out how many salmon are spawning in the rivers and streams on tribal lands. Salmon are the most important subsistence food of the people in the villages along these rivers. Commercial fishing for salmon also provides the most jobs in your area. Important events to consider: A huge fire occurred last year near the village of Rocky River. Villagers there can't count on shooting a moose this year or on generating income from fur trapping. They are extremely concerned about reports of reduced returns of fall chum salmon. The Black River has an important salmon run that may be declining. The village of Fort O'Conor has very high unemployment since a small fish processing plant recently closed. There are 7 primary rivers under your management where salmon spawn. You have a yearly budget of $450,000. A total of $150,000 can be spent each year to purchase needed equipment. The $300,000 left is your annual budget for operating field projects. You need to make a three- year monitoring plan that will help you determine as accurately as possible how many salmon spawn within the whole system. Purple River: Over 350 feet wide, and very muddy. The Purple River has a run of salmon that's extremely important to the subsistence and commercial economy of area communities. White River: This is a fairly narrow, shallow, clear-water stream, but it often floods getting deep and muddy when rainstorms occur. This stream is one of the most important spawning areas for Chinook salmon in the Interior. Blue River: This is a clear-water river, less than 300 feet wide and 4 feet deep. Brown River: This river is almost a half mile wide, very deep and muddy. The Brown River runs over 2,000 miles from the ocean, through your tribal government lands, and on into Canada. There are 20 Native villages along this river inside the U.S. that harvest salmon for subsistence and commercial use. These fish are important to villages in Canada, too. Native tribes in Canada and the Canadian government are concerned that you may be taking too many of the fish that are returning to spawn in Canada. Green River: This river is over 350 feet wide, 20 feet deep and muddy. The Green River has one of the largest chum salmon runs inside the United States. Many villages in your area harvest fish that originate from this system. Black River: This river is about 200 feet wide. The Black River is normally clear but heavy rains and floods in summer often make the water too muddy to see through. Yellow River: This river is over 500 feet wide, deep and muddy. Salmon in the Yellow River are important to commercial and subsistence fishermen on both sides of the border. Survey Methods Available to You: Aerial surveys: Cost: $800 per stream surveyed Staff needs: 1 pilot; one experienced observer Counting Accuracy: Fairly low Benefits: This is the least expensive counting method. You only need an airplane, pilot, counter, and gasoline. This is also the best way to cover a large area. Problems: Aerial surveys can give you a fairly inaccurate count. You may have cloud cover over part of a stream, or water reflections or fish in deep water might be hard to see. Counting Tower: Cost: $2000 to set up. $35,000 per season to run Staff needs: 1 crew leader and 1-2 technicians Counting Accuracy: Good if water remains clear and sampling is consistent. Benefits: You need very little equipment to set up a counting tower. In addition, staff need very little training in order to do accurate counts. This is a great program to hire high school students or other village residents to run. Problems: This can only be used in a shallow, narrow, clear-water stream. High water or muddy water from storms can interrupt counts. There is no way to stop the migrating fish, so the tower has to be manned constantly to keep counts accurate. Weir: Cost: $50,000 to purchase and transport equipment to site. $50,000 to run each season Staff needs: 1 crew leader, 2 technicians Counting Accuracy: Very high Benefits: This counting method can tell you exactly how many fish you have in the spawning stream along with species, and sex ratio. Problems: This method can only be used in a fairly shallow, narrow, clear-water stream. High water from storms can overflow the weir and allow the fish to pass uncounted. Muddy water can also interrupt counts. Sonar: Cost: $200,000 to purchase equipment; $50,000 to operate per season Staff needs: 1 crew leader, 3 technicians. Counting Accuracy: Very high IF only one species of fish is traveling through the sonar beam. Benefits: This method can be used in a wider, deeper, muddy water system. It allows you to count fish that you can't physically see. Problems: Equipment costs are very high. Staff need to be highly trained to operate the equipment and interpret the data. The sonar system needs to be monitored and calibrated frequently in order to give accurate counts. Mark/Recapture: Cost: $30,000 to purchase and ship equipment. $165,000 to operate per season. Staff needs: 1 permanent biologist, 1 seasonal crew leader, 3 technicians Counting Accuracy: Good, but delayed (see problems) Benefits: The best method available to determine the total fish moving through a very large, wide, muddy river system. Problems: This method is very labor intensive. 200-300 fish need to be tagged every day and 2,000-3,000 need to be examined every day. The population estimate you come up with is at least 1 -2 weeks behind what's occurring in the fishery. So, this method can't be used to make in- season management decisions (fishing openers/closings) Test Net/Fish Wheels Cost: $8,000 for each Staff: 1 biologist, 1 crew leader, 1 technician Accuracy: Fair Benefits: This is "real-time" information. You can use it to help make in-season management decisions like opening commercial seasons. Subsistence Monitoring: Cost: $30,000 Crew: 1 technician Counting Accuracy: Fair Benefits: This method confirms the run information you got from using test nets. Local fishermen are more involved in providing fishing data. Problems: Fishermen may not fish consistently day-to-day, so the data may be sporadic. Text and graphics by USFWS staff Last modified 18 January, 2006