Fisheries Resource Monitoring

Program U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Office of Subsistence ManagementFederal Subsistence Board

January 12-13, 2016 Work Session

1) Program Overview2) Historical Overview3) Programmatic Review4) Revised Process5) Draft Monitoring Plan

Fisheries Resource Monitoring Program

The mission of the Monitoring Program is to identify and provide information needed to

sustain subsistence fisheries on Federal public lands for rural Alaskans through a

multidisciplinary collaborative program.

Mission

Fisheries Resource Monitoring Program

1) Administered through the Office of Subsistence Management (OSM)

2) Advance projects that are strategically important to the Federal Subsistence Management Program

3) Coordinate and enhance subsistence research and communicate information

Regions

Historical Overview

Allocation of Funds by Region

Regional allocation guideline for Fisheries Resource Monitoring Funds.

Region

Department of Interior

Funds

Department of Agriculture

FundsNorthern 17% 0%

Yukon 29% 0%Kuskokwi

m 29% 0%

Southwest 15% 0%Southcent

ral 5% 33%

Southeast 0% 67%Inter-

regional 5% 0%

Program Review1) Objective review process2) Increased interaction through a proactive

approach 3) Outreach strategy4) Technical Review Committee (TRC)5) Transparency6) Consistency7) Quality

Technical Review Committee1) Standing interagency committee of senior

technical experts from State and Federal agencies

2) OSM Assistant Regional Director determines appointments

3) Current members -BIA, BLM, NPS, FWS, USFS, ADFG and OSM

Technical Review Committee

4) Review and rank submitted proposals

5) Interdisciplinary approach – equal composition of biologists and anthropologists

Policy and Funding Guidelines

Projects of up to four years duration may be considered in any year’s monitoring plan.

Studies must not duplicate existing projects.

A majority of Monitoring Program funding will be dedicated to non-Federal agencies.

Long term projects will be considered on a case by case basis.

Policy and Funding Guidelines

Activities that are not eligible for funding include:

a) habitat restoration and enhancement b) hatchery propagation and stocking c) contaminant samplingd) primarily outreach or education

How the FRMP Funding Process

Works

STEP 1- Proposal Development

1) The Office of Subsistence Management assists Regional Advisory Councils with Priority Needs development

2) Principal Investigators work with Regional Advisory Councils and/or communities to develop proposals

a) Best to work throughout year, not right before submission due date

3) The Office of Subsistence Management provides technical assistance as needed/requested

a) Postcard/letter updatesb) Training session at the Winter All Councils meeting

STEP 2- Proposal Submission1) A Complete project package must be submitted on time

• Follow Notice of Funding Availability/Opportunity

2) A proposal must align with the overall FRMP mission and address all five specific criteria :

• Strategic Priority / Priority Needs• Technical-Scientific Merit• Investigator Ability and Resources• Partnership-Capacity• Cost Benefit

STEP 3- Proposal Evaluation

1) Enhance the Monitoring Program

2) Assure program transparency

3) Identify and fund high quality research and monitoring projects that address priority subsistence information questions or needs

4) Maximize funding opportunities

STEP 3- Proposal Evaluation (cont.)

Key modifications to the proposal review process include:

1) Specific guidelines for assessing how and whether a proposed project has addressed each of the five criteria

2) Receive a single consolidated review from each participating agency

3) Agencies cannot rank their own proposals.

STEP 4- Proposal RankingResponsibility of the Technical Review Committee:

1) Develop a draft Monitoring Plan

2) Evaluate and score each proposal for:

Strategic Priority / Priority NeedsTechnical and Scientific MeritInvestigator Ability and ResourcesPartnership and Capacity Building Cost/Benefit

The final score determines the ranking of each proposal.

STEP 5- RAC Input and CommentsRegional Advisory Councils:

1) Review TRC rankings and proposal summaries

2) Provide comments to accompany proposals to the FSB

a) How proposals align with priority needsb) Comments on proposal rankings

c) Proposal summariesd) Process

STEP 6- FSB Review and Final Monitoring Plan

1) ISC reviews process, TRC rankings and RAC comments and provides comments/recommendations to the FSB

2) FSB reviews process and products

a) Endorse a Final Monitoring Plan

3) OSM ARD reviews all comments and finalizes Monitoring Plan

Vision Develop an ongoing conversation

Integrate people, knowledge and science

Transparency

Make sure FRMP data is available

Outreach strategy

2016 Fisheries ResourcesMonitoring Program

45 projects received

1 project determined not eligible (habitat restoration)

44 total projects analyzed and ranked31 SST13 HM/TEK