White Sturgeon Sex and Stage of Maturity in Lower Columbia River, Canada | F17AS00358

Opportunity Information: Apply for F17AS00358

This funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service focuses on a practical management problem in the lower Columbia River in Canada: managers need solid, field-tested information on when hatchery-origin White Sturgeon actually become sexually mature and whether, when, and how often they participate in natural spawning alongside the wild population. The project is built around the idea that stocking and recovery actions only make sense if agencies can reliably track reproductive readiness and understand how hatchery fish integrate into the breeding population over time.

The core scientific goal is to determine the sex and stage of maturity of both hatchery-origin and wild White Sturgeon using several assessment methods, then use those results to estimate key reproductive metrics. For hatchery-origin fish, the study aims to estimate age at first maturity and, where possible, spawning periodicity (how often mature individuals spawn). For wild fish, the project similarly targets sex, maturity stage, and spawning periodicity, but it also emphasizes building stronger reproductive indices by combining newly collected biological samples with an existing long-term dataset created from repeated captures of adult sturgeon over roughly the past decade in the study area. That long-term component is meant to improve confidence in trends and patterns that cannot be captured in a short sampling window.

A major piece of the work is method validation and accuracy testing. The project explicitly compares multiple tools used in the field to assign sex and maturity stage, including ultrasound imaging, endoscopic techniques (otoscope and endoscope), and blood-based measurement of plasma sex steroids. Because these techniques can vary in reliability depending on fish size, season, operator skill, and reproductive condition, the study uses histological analysis of gonadal tissue (microscopic examination) from biopsies as the validation benchmark for "true" sex and maturity stage. Two sub-objectives support that benchmark: first, testing whether maturity stage is consistent across different parts of the gonad (tissue homogeneity) in both males and females of hatchery origin, and second, measuring how accurate gonadal biopsy is at assessing maturity stage for hatchery-origin fish. Together, these steps are meant to quantify error rates and reduce uncertainty in the non-lethal or minimally invasive approaches managers prefer to use at scale.

Beyond identifying maturity status, the project aims to compare hatchery-origin fish directly to the wild breeding population using several reproductive indices. These comparisons include sex ratio, estimated age at first maturity, and spawning periodicity, which are the kinds of population-level parameters that influence forecasts of recruitment, effective population size, and long-term recovery potential. The project also looks at how age, body size, and habitat conditions relate to growth and reproduction for hatchery-origin sturgeon, recognizing that maturation timing and reproductive output can be shaped by environmental factors and access to suitable habitat.

Administratively, this was a discretionary, single-source cooperative agreement (Funding Opportunity Number F17AS00358) under CFDA 15.650, categorized under information and statistics and natural resources. The agency anticipated one award with an estimated ceiling of $120,000. The posting indicates it was issued in early August 2017 (creation date Aug 02, 2017) with an original closing date of Aug 07, 2017, and it notes the single-source approach was justified under a Department of the Interior policy provision for unique qualifications. Overall, the opportunity supports applied research designed to give fisheries managers defensible, validated tools and population metrics to guide decisions about hatchery supplementation and conservation of White Sturgeon in the lower Columbia River.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the information and statistics, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "White Sturgeon Sex and Stage of Maturity in Lower Columbia River, Canada" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.650.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 02, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 07, 2017 This Single Source Award is being awarded in accordance with Department of the Interior Policy 505 DM 2.14 B (4) Unique Qualifications.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $120,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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