Comment on APRE report 2003-17

American Fisheries Society Oregon Chapter PO Box 722 Corvallis, OR 97339 1999 osu.orst.edu/groups/orafs December 9, 2003 Mark Walker Director of Public Affairs Northwest Power and Conservation Council th851 SW 6 Ave., Suite 1100 Portland, OR 97204-1348 Mr. Walker: This letter provides comments on behalf of the Oregon Chapter of the American Fisheries Society on the Artificial Production Review and Evaluation (APRE). Problems are immediately apparent in examining the individual hatchery reports on Stocks, Hatchery Program Description, and Summary of Potential Benefits and Risks (these reports were generated from the database that was created from a 100+ questionnaire). Right away, a reviewer is unable to decipher the meaning of the information summarized in the tables. For instance, under biological significance & goals, the letters L, H, & M are used to indicate status of stock/programs at a hatchery. Nowhere is this defined. Another acronym used is “nya”–we are not sure what this means (not yet available?) but it is used throughout the reports. In examining the reports, there are many “nya” answers, which makes one wonder about the validity of conclusions. While this may seem a minor problem, it seems to reflect on the general quality of the data inputted into the reports and leads a questioning reviewer to a larger problem: the glossy reports seem to be based on inadequate information even though it is presented ...