Welcome to the Seventh StreamNet News!
A Newsletter from StreamNet
A Fish Data Delivery Project for the Pacific Northwest
Issue #7 - March 26, 2007
Table of Contents
1. New Data in the StreamNet Database
2. Subbasin Planning Input/Output Data Available
3. The StreamNet Data Store and Data Publishing Service
4. News From the StreamNet Library
1. NEW DATA IN THE STREAMNET DATABASE
New data: Significant additional fish data records were incorporated into StreamNet since the last newsletter. These include:
- New time series established (escapement; redd counts; etc.) — 950
- Time series annual counts — 7637 new records
- Fish distribution — 5029 new/updated records
- Migration barriers and species-specific blockage details — over 2300 new records each
- Final carcass disposition of fish that returned to hatcheries — 1408 new records
- Age data — 811 new records
- Reference documents describing StreamNet data — 6334 new/updated records.
New capabilities: We are developing two new capabilities that should be useful for many StreamNet users: delivering fish age data; and the ability to cite multiple documents as the source of information for individual data records. We currently have over 6500 records describing the age composition of fishes from spawning ground surveys, dam counts, and hatchery returns, and we have over 2000 instances where multiple references are used to describe a record of data.
These two items are not yet visible online. We plan to implement these capabilities over the next six months. If you wish to obtain these data before they are available via the online query system, contact us at project@streamnet.org or give us a call at 503-595-3100.
New data tracking: We have received requests from time to time that we indicate when data updates are expected. You can now view details of recent and up-coming data updates at http://www.streamnet.org/online-data/data_updates.cfm.
This page will show when significant data updates are available via StreamNet’s web based query system.
Faster queries: If you have used the StreamNet query system over the past few months, you may have noticed significantly quicker response times. A new server we acquired has resulted in a noticeably faster query system. We continue to pursue additional measures to make your data searches quick and easy.
2. SUBBASIN PLANNING INPUT/OUTPUT DATA AVAILABLE
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council
led the 2001-2004 effort to develop comprehensive subbasin plans throughout the Columbia River basin.
After the plans were completed, StreamNet, the Technical Outreach and Assistance to Subbasins Team (TOAST),
the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, and the Northwest Habitat Institute captured the
new data that were developed for use in the aquatic portion of each subbasin plan. These data were
standardized, documented, and packaged for download at the StreamNet website at
http://www.streamnet.org/subbasin/2001-subbasin-data.html
in fall 2006. Resources available there
include the spreadsheets, maps, GIS layers, subbasin planning modeling input and results, tools, and
databases developed for subbasin planning. Most of the EDT (Ecosystems Diagnosis and Treatment) and QHA
(Qualitative Habitat Analysis) modeling information used in subbasin planning is available here. This
includes GIS layers that define the locations of the EDT/QHA reaches that were modeled (these were
previously only described in excel spreadsheets and were not available in a GIS format).
3. THE STREAMNET DATA STORE AND DATA PUBLISHING SERVICE
Data discovery and data sharing are becoming increasingly important issues in the Columbia River basin and other areas, especially
due to information needs related to implementing the Endangered Species Act. Both data discovery (the ability
to find information you need) and data sharing (the ability to obtain those data sets) are consistent impediments to effective
fisheries management.
Large scope data projects exist to house and disseminate some specific kinds of data.
StreamNet's online query system allows you to search for
about 20 types of data, including redd counts, weir counts, hatchery
returns, and migration barriers. Other regional data projects such as PTAGIS, the
Regional Mark Processing Center, the Fish Passage Center, and
the Pacific Northwest Water Quality Data Exchange allow you to search for other
specific types of data. However there are many types of data important for fisheries and aquatic
resource research and management that do not fit into the standard categories of StreamNet or any of these other data
sharing mechanisms. Examples include 3D flow modeling of streams and reservoirs, stream habitat measures, bathymetry, trophic
studies, age and growth, species diversity, genetics, fecundity, stray rates, the data sets used for species status assessments,
and many many more. Such data sets can become lost over time, and are often difficult to find and obtain. If you
have a data set that is in demand, responding to frequent requests to share the data can become a nuisance.
For several years StreamNet has provided the ability for anyone to publish and archive data sets on our "Independent Data
Sets" page. These data sets are then archived and made available to all (shareable) and searchable (discoverable). We recently improved
our Independent Data Sets page and renamed it the "StreamNet
Data Store." The Data Store includes two basic functions: the ability to locate and obtain data sets; and the ability
to post data for others to find and obtain.
The Data Store is searched by typing in words of interest. Looking for genetics data for cutthroat trout?
Enter "cutthroat genetic" and click the "Search" button. Want information about the Coeur d'Alene basin? Enter "coeur" and click "Search."
A recent improvement to the Data Store is that data sets in the Data Store are now being made discoverable from
Internet "portals" such as the national Geospatial One-Stop (USGS), the
National Biological Information Infrastructure (USGS), the
Conservation GeoPortal (National Geographic Society and The Nature Conservancy),
and the NED portal (Northwest Environmental Data-Network).
These "portals" are web sites that allow you to search for data sets on other web sites. As such "portals" come and go, all data
sets in the StreamNet Data Store will remain archived and available to all portals, as well as remaining findable from the Data
Store's search page.
To contribute a data set to the Data Store, use the "Data
Publishing Service." This small program guides you through the easy process of describing your data set so that
others can find it and know what it contains, then sends the data set to the StreamNet Data Store. In short order you can
preserve important data sets, and let others find and use them.
4. NEWS FROM THE STREAMNET LIBRARY
Those of you who have been around a few years and had the opportunity to visit Idaho Department of Fish and Game's Boise headquarters may remember the excellent library collection there. Due to budget cuts that library was closed some years ago, and most of the collection has been unavailable since that time. In August, StreamNet Library staff embarked on a book-retrieving mission to Boise. One hundred boxes of materials were obtained that had been part of the IDFG library collection. These materials are now being incorporated into the StreamNet Library. We gladly welcomed the material, adding to our ever-growing library collection of published literature, gray literature, maps, planning documents, NEPA documents, historical texts, and other materials. If you would like to obtain materials from the StreamNet Library, visit http://www.fishlib.org. From there you can search for items of interest, or find contact information for the StreamNet Librarian and staff. They welcome your calls, and are happy to help you find materials you need. If you're in Portland, you can also visit the Library in person at 729 NE Oregon St, Suite 190.
The Library acquired a microfilm scanner which has full scanning, printing, and conversion functions. Microfilm and microfiche can now be fully utilized, improving your library research capabilities.
StreamNet data and the StreamNet Library are used for a variety of purposes besides fisheries management. Historians and social scientists may be interested in a special collection developed at the Library by the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission to mark the 50th anniversary of the inundation of Celilo Falls in 1957. The inundation of the falls by The Dalles Dam was a historic event that affected the lives of people in the Columbia Basin and beyond, particularly Native Americans, for who Celilo Falls was a cultural, economic, and food gathering center for many centuries. The special collection addresses the history, cultures, and traditions of the native peoples whose lives were -- and are -- intimately connected to Celilo Falls.
The end.
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COMMENTS on the StreamNet project, its web site, its data
products, or your data needs are encouraged and appreciated.
Email us at project@streamnet.org, or click "Send us your questions & comments" at the top of any page
of the StreamNet web site.
ABOUT THE STREAMNET PROJECT: StreamNet is a cooperative,
multi-agency effort among the Columbia River Basin's state,
tribal, and federal fisheries agencies, the Northwest Power and
Conservation Council (NPCC), the Bonneville Power Administration,
and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission to compile
fish-related data. We compile and make available on our web site
information intended to be useful to fisheries managers and
researchers, land managers, planners, and others. We acquire,
regionally standardize, and georeference data from multiple
sources on a number of topics, including fish distribution,
fish abundance trends, hatchery returns, harvest
levels, migration barriers, hatcheries, and dams. We provide a
catalog of photographs relevant to fish species and facilities in
the region. Through our "Data Publishing Service" and "Data Store" we archive and provide access to stand-alone
data sets created by other entities. We maintain the official
list of stream reaches the NPCC has recommended be protected from
dam construction, and we are the official keepers of the Pacific
Northwest's 1:100,000 scale GIS streams layer. We provide
pre-made maps and let you make maps interactively from data in
the StreamNet database to meet your needs. We continually work
to update these resources, so new information becomes available
several times each year. We also provide customized data-related
services for participants in the NPCC's Fish and Wildlife
Program.
You can learn more about StreamNet at
http://www.streamnet.org/about-sn.html. We exist in order to
bring useful information to people such as you, and we welcome
your questions, feedback, and suggestions. We also hope you
will inform your colleagues about the resources available at
StreamNet (http://www.streamnet.org).
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