Partnership

In 1996, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and NOAA Fisheries established the Independent Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB). The ISAB was formed to provide independent scientific advice and recommendations regarding scientific issues posed by the respective agencies on matters that relate to their fish and wildlife programs. In 2002, the Columbia River Basin Indian Tribes were added as equal partners in the administrative oversight of the ISAB.

Purpose

The ISAB fosters a scientific approach to fish and wildlife recovery and the use of sound scientific methods in research related to the programs of NOAA Fisheries, the Council, and the Tribes. It is understood that the interests of NOAA Fisheries relate particularly to anadromous fish conservation and management, while those of the Council and the Tribes include all fish and wildlife populations affected by operation and development of the Columbia River Basin hydroelectric system. NOAA Fisheries is responsible for federal stewardship of the Nation’s marine and anadromous fish, and marine mammals. The Council is charged to “protect, mitigate, and enhance” fish (anadromous and resident) and wildlife as affected by operation and development of the hydroelectric system. The Tribes manage fish and wildlife resources on their respective reservations, are co-managers on ceded lands, and are responsible to ensure treaty provisions governing natural resources are secured to future generations.

The ISAB is a standing body with general tasks, specified in a Terms of Reference, that guide its work plan. Specific ISAB assignments are commonly generated within the fiscal year, often span fiscal years, and are sometimes unanticipated.

General ISAB Responsibilities

The ISAB addresses scientific and technical issues relating to the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program, tribal fish and wildlife programs, and the NOAA Fisheries Recovery Program for Columbia River Basin salmonids. Principal activities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Evaluate the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program on its scientific merits in time to inform amendments to the Fish and Wildlife Program and before the Council requests recommendations from the region.

• Provide scientific review of NOAA Fisheries recovery planning activities for Columbia River Basin stocks when requested.

• Review the scientific and technical issues associated with efforts to improve anadromous fish survival through all life stages, based on adaptive management approaches.

• Review and provide advice on priorities for conservation and recovery efforts, including research, monitoring, evaluation, and data management.

• Provide scientific reviews of topics identified as critical to fish recovery and conservation in the Columbia River Basin.

• Provide scientific review of, and suggestions to strengthen, tribal efforts to restore fish and wildlife resources when requested.

• Compare the various plans, strategies, analytical tools, and methods employed by the Council, NOAA Fisheries, the Columbia River Basin Indian Tribes, and others related to the management of Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife to identify areas of consensus, disagreement, uncertainty, and opportunity.

To the extent allowed by time and resources, the ISAB provides specific scientific advice on topics and questions requested from the region or the ISAB itself and approved by the Oversight Panel by majority vote. Fish and wildlife agencies and others may submit questions to the ISAB. The ISAB may also identify questions and propose reviews. The Oversight Panel, in consultation with the ISAB, reviews these questions in a timely manner and decides which are amenable to scientific analysis, are relevant to the Tribes’, Council’s, and NOAA Fisheries’ programs, and fit within the ISAB’s work plan. As stated in the ISAB’s Terms of Reference, many questions pertaining to the recovery of the Columbia River ecosystem contain both scientific and policy aspects. The ISAB addresses the scientific and technical aspects of issues.

In addition, the Council’s 2014 Fish and Wildlife Program directs the Council to work with the ISAB to organize a series of Columbia River science/policy conferences to discuss and explore scientific and technical developments in key policy areas.