3-Attachment B Scope of Work.docx

Attachment B Scope of Work

NC27-111

Mossback Habitat Structures for Pineview Reservoir 2026

1. Introduction Lack of suitable cover habitat for young of the year fish has been identified as a factor limiting the recruitment of individuals into populations in many of northern Utah’s reservoirs. Providing natural habitat (i.e., weeds) has proven problematic as many of these reservoirs are primarily for irrigation storage and annual fluctuations of water levels preclude colonization of persistent vegetative growth. Suitable artificial habitat can be ecologically ‘boring’ if it does not provide animals with a diversity of shapes and sizes that mimic natural plant cover types. When selecting a product, it is important to take all of these aspects into consideration and select an option that is constructed of materials that provide longevity, diversity, and best mimic natural cover types.

· This Scope of Work will be issued under a cooperative agreement with Ogden City and a new program funding code still being created.

1.1 Background

In addition to the challenges mentioned earlier in community fisheries, irrigation storage reservoirs (Pineview, Rockport and Echo), can experience water level fluctuations of up to 55 feet annually. This generally precludes growth and colonization of shoreline vegetation used as cover for young fish. Consequently, yellow perch seek deep, nearly anoxic regions of the reservoir for use as refugia from predators. This works well until fall turnover, when oxygen rich water from the surface reaches the depths and allows for predators to exploit this newly accessible food resource. This often nearly decimates entire year classes of fish, causing a dominant year class to suppress recruitment and growth of younger individuals. Providing cover should allow for survival of some young fish, allowing them to recruit and hopefully stabilize the population (and fishery) instead of running the dominant year class scenario which provides a good fishery about once every 5-6 years. These reservoirs are popular and public use is increasing. In order to meet the potential future public demand, the Division of Wildlife Resources needs to act now to ensure a productive fishery for years to come.

1.2 Scope of Work

Supply and ship 180 Mossback Safe Haven Kits or equivalent to.

Add a diversity of artificial habitat elements that complement the specific needs of the desirable sportfish species, throughout their varying sizes and life-stages, in each of the targeted water bodies. These artificial elements should theoretically reduce the need for continual augmentation of fish numbers via stocking by providing protective habitat structures that are conducive to natural reproduction/recruitment into the fishery for desirable sport species. Structures will provide cover for fish from piscivorous birds that compete directly with anglers. The need to increase the habitat complexity of these systems is paramount to the sustainability of the wild fish component of the fishery. Obviously, augmentation via stocking may be necessary for species with thermal limitations. However, for those species limited by a lack of structural habitat elements that provide a diversity (suiting different fish size classes and addressing all of the life history stages of these sportfish species), this will reduce the frequency of stocking to maintain a viable fishery. This habitat will be deployed prior to ice up, on dry frozen lake bottom or from a boat in the spring.

1.3 Requirements

Artificial Habitat for young of the year fish >4” total length. Individual structures must be no taller than 60” when deployed and be capable of being no less than 9’ in width when deployed, have no less than 50 individual habitat elements per structure, with cover elements arranged generally horizontally for maximum overhead cover. The limbs should be capable of expanding the structure from 72” in width to 102” in width and weigh 60 lbs. when assembled. The structure should require minimal assembly and have the limb material (not including anchoring system) be comprised of a textured recycled, decay-resistant material suitable for algae growth. Additionally, the limbs should be generally snag resistant to minimize angler conflict. Limbs should be in a “V” shape to collect sediment and will encourage macrophyte growth. Product comparable to Mossback Safe Haven Kit.

Although there is currently no evidence to suggest that these reservoirs are in danger of a collapse of the sportfish forage assemblage, water use trends have diminished the number of years that water remains at an elevation conducive to good survival of young fish. Considering current trends in municipal and agricultural use, the demand for water will not drop, and ensuring that there is some nursery and escape habitat for young fish is likely going to be important.

As the mentioned program areas are generally artificial waterbodies, there is not a typical threat to their ecological importance. They are, however, important to the angling public. With that said, there is the potential risk that at some point it may become too costly to continue to stock fish that are not providing any natural recruitment to the fishery. Augmenting the habitat to enhance the likelihood of persistence of a fishery in the face of extreme pressure would help insure viability into the future.

2. Compliance For this project, compliance largely is comprised of informing and cooperating with partners involved in management of the relevant water bodies. Those partners include water companies, Bureau of Reclamation, State Parks, United States Forest Service and surrounding landowners.

3. Project Deliverables Approximately 180 structures for Pineview Reservoir.

4. Project Timeline Agency staff will place habitat structures in Pineview Reservoir during the winter or after ice off in the winter of 2026 and 2027.

Please ship all products to 200 North 1000 West Building 13 A Ogden UT 84401 Product should be placed in the north half of the building.