The klamath basin fisheries collaborative (kbfc): PIT tag monitoring and database project (pittag project) is a klamath basin (basin) fish tracking infrastructure and associated fisheries monitoring…

This $1,146,218 Project Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service's Fish and Wildlife Coordination and Assistance program (CFDA 15.664) supports the Klamath Basin Fisheries Collaborative's (KBFC) "PIT Tag Monitoring and Database Project" (PITTAG Project). The PITTAG Project aims to:

1. Strengthen the KBFC network by facilitating information sharing and coordination among data collection entities working across the Klamath Basin.
2. Expand and support monitoring infrastructure to gather data that informs fisheries management and restoration actions for imperiled species like Lost River Suckers, Shortnose Suckers, Coho Salmon, and Chinook Salmon.
3. Build and manage a standardized, collaborative data system that provides access to data collected across the basin to support analysis at multiple scales and ensure long-term data preservation.

The project period runs from May 1, 2024 to September 30, 2026 and involves coordination between the lead awardee, the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, and its partner entities. This work directly supports the 2023 Klamath Basin Integrated Fisheries Restoration and Monitoring Plan and the Interior Department's Klamath Basin drought resilience initiatives.

The klamath basin fisheries collaborative (kbfc): PIT tag monitoring and database project (pittag project) is a klamath basin (basin) fish tracking infrastructure and associated fisheries monitoring collaboration. This PIT tag project purpose supports a collaborative effort to monitor and evaluate historic river restoration opportunities in the face of an ecological system in crisis with several imperiled fish species drifting towards extinction, including lost river suckers (chasmistes brevirostris), shortnose suckers (deltistes luxatus), coho salmon (oncorhynchus kisutch), chinook salmon (oncorhynchus tshawytscha), and other native fish. Activities performed by this project include vital fisheries monitoring, associated kbfc database development and management for PIT tag data sharing, and partner coordination tasks necessary to inform fish recovery actions and assess restoration outcomes. The information collected focuses on native klamath fish data that will be shared through the kbfc database, and, by extension, inform fisheries management and ecosystem restoration in the basin. The projects timing, which overlaps with the impending removal of four klamath river dams, positions the PIT tag project to rapidly expand, scale up, and integrate work across what historically has been termed the lower and upper basin regions. These critical tasks were identified by members of the kbfc, which is composed of more than 30 entities that include state and federal agencies, tribal entities, academic institutions, and watershed groups. The proposed work also directly supports the 2023 klamath basin integrated fisheries restoration and monitoring PLAN1 (ifrmp) recommendation 2: support current initiatives in the basin focused on integrating and sharing information related to fish population indicators, which identifies the klamath basin PIT tag database (also known as kbfc database) that the kbfc aims to modernize its data flow with this proposed project. The ifrmp also identifies PIT tag infrastructure for data collection as a tier 1 core performance indicator as well as identifying a need for improved standardization of data collection and storage as a crosscutting need, which would benefit fromthe modernization of the data flow into the kbfc database. Lastly, the juvenile coho assessments proposed within the lower klamath, mid-klamath, and the scott river watershed will provide valuable information regarding the performance of climate resiliency and fish recovery measures such as creation of off-channel wetlands and stewardship of beaver DAM analogues, which directly support secretary haalands keystone initiative to build and expand drought resilience in the klamath basin as outlined in a recent interior department call to action.deliverables and expected outcomes include (1) strengthening the kbfc network by fostering information sharing and coordination among data collection entities working across the basin (2) expanding and supporting the monitoring infrastructure and work to gather data that advances research questions informing fisheries management and restoration actions (3) building and managing a collaborative, structured, and standardized data system that (a) provides data access to all members, (b) organizing and documenting these data properly to support analysis at multiple spatial and temporal scales, and (c) ensuring that these data are accessible over the long-term and for on-going and future needs.