This is a very ambitious program to sample lamprey in numerous locations throughout the Columbia River Basin and to synthesize past data collected by other investigators. Investigators on other lamprey projects have been working for years on single rivers to develop reliable estimates of the parameters the sponsors propose to measure.

It should be possible to extend what has been learned about limiting factors by the group of lamprey researchers presently funded to the other projects (such as the one proposed here) so as to design appropriate management measures, without the need to conduct basic types of studies in each watershed. The proponents clearly recognize the need for collaboration with other projects since one of their goals is to capture information from all the different lamprey projects in the Columbia River Basin. The proposal would benefit from more discussion on how the proponents plan on engaging the people involved in the various projects. The proposal would also benefit from some evidence that the other researchers are indeed willing to collaborate. What is the role of the Lamprey Technical Work Group in this regard? This part of the proposal seems premature.

Partial funding is recommended to produce a lamprey sampling manual (Task 1.3). This would be a significant contribution that would lead to improvement in interpretation of results of the numerous lamprey projects underway or proposed in the Basin. Preparation of the manual could accomplish some of the coordination goals of the broader proposal.