ISAP Comments on Pallid Sturgeon Condition AssesmentDraft

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hatchery origin and exchanges) might provide information on questions of fitness and genetics as they may influence body condition. Further and more detailed analyses of the kinds suggested above might help to clarify whether a systemic or localized deterioration of body condition in pallid sturgeon is occurring in the Missouri River and, if so, where it is occurring. Additional analyses could allow the investigators to answer the first question posed to the team. Do note that the relevance of the second question is contingent on the answer to the first question. Following further analysis, if a"skinny fish" phenomenon is merely an artifact of the Shuman et al. formula, subsequent efforts that speculate on causal mechanisms are unnecessary. However, if additional analyses demonstrate that the condition of pallid sturgeon is declining in the lower Missouri River, inferences about the influence of habitat quality need to be drawn from data beyond point measures of hydrodynamics and bed elevation as developed in the current document. Useful characterization of pallid sturgeon habitat requires a more comprehensive consideration of resources (and resource conditions) used by the fish. Such analysis of habitat conditions using an ecosystem-based approach that addresses, for example food resources using an energetics-based food web analysis, appears beyond the scope and intent of the current examination of pallid sturgeon condition in the Missouri River and is likely constrained by available data. However, any discussion of habitat quality as a potential cause of low body condition based on limited hydrology data(as in the current document) remains highly speculative—unless river hydrodynamics can be shown to serve as a valid proxy measure in lieu of a more realistic, multi- dimensional description of habitat. The purpose of the Randall et al. report was to assess new information that might prove essential to managing pallid sturgeon in an adaptive framework. Accordingly,the report could benefit from an introductory discussion of how the body condition of pallid sturgeon relates to or influences the metrics outlined in the Adaptive Management Plan. It is important for river managers to consider any new information pertaining to trends in the body condition of pallid sturgeon with reference to the Effects Analysis (EA), specifically the Conceptual Ecological Models(CEMs), and to determine how information on body condition fits into the ecological state of the MRRP action area,the primary management hypotheses for pallid sturgeon, and the larger-scale programmatic components of the AMP. While there is some discussion of the effects of body condition on recruitment at the end of the Randall et al. report, it is not clear how the new information would (or should) influence the metrics outlined in the AMP. Ultimately, any new information on body condition should be evaluated in relation to the critical issue of pallid sturgeon recruitment in the Missouri River. The lack of a clearly stated connection between new information(here the report by Randall et al.) and the data-driven efforts already undertaken under the MRRP suggests that a revised approach to vetting and conveying new information into the MRRP is advisable. The following paragraphs offer some guidance for addressing new information in the context of CEMs,the EA, and the program's hypothesis testing framework: Any concerned party is encouraged to bring to the MRRP new data or other information on the ecology and behavior of the listed species, resources and habitat attributes that affect those species including environmental stressors, ecosystem processes that are known or suspected to ISAP Comments on Draft Pallid Sturgeon Condition Assessment Page 3 of 4