Rotary Screw Trap Data Collection from the American and Stanislaus Rivers in California’s Central Valley and Reporting | F22AS00045

Opportunity Information: Apply for F22AS00045

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a discretionary cooperative agreement opportunity focused on collecting, analyzing, and reporting rotary screw trap (RST) data from the American and Stanislaus rivers in Californias Central Valley. The work supports the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA), under which Service staff and partners have been running juvenile salmonid monitoring programs since the 1990s. The core purpose of this funding is to maintain a consistent, standardized, and high-quality stream of juvenile salmonid monitoring information that can be compared across years and used confidently for management decisions.

The project centers on operating rotary screw traps and producing the associated datasets needed to track juvenile salmonid populations in the American and Stanislaus rivers. Rotary screw traps are a widely used tool for sampling juvenile fish moving downstream, and long-running RST programs are especially valuable because they can reveal trends over time rather than only providing a snapshot. This opportunity is essentially about keeping that long-term monitoring effort rigorous and continuous, while ensuring that methods and reporting remain standardized so the data are reliable and comparable across seasons, years, and sites.

A major intended use of the resulting data is population monitoring: documenting juvenile salmonid presence, timing, relative abundance, and related metrics that help describe how young fish are using these river systems. Beyond basic monitoring, the funding is also aimed at supporting evaluation of how fish respond to changing flow conditions and habitat restoration actions. In practical terms, that means the data may be used to assess whether alterations in river operations, seasonal flow patterns, or restoration projects are associated with measurable changes in juvenile salmonid movement, survival-related indicators, or outmigration timing. Because water management and habitat conditions in the Central Valley can vary substantially from year to year, having consistent monitoring data is important for interpreting the effects of those changes rather than relying on assumptions.

Administratively, the opportunity is listed as a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates meaningful federal involvement during the project, such as coordination on study design elements, data standards, and deliverables. The funding opportunity number is F22AS00045, the Assistance Listing (CFDA) number is 15.648, and the activity category is Natural Resources. The posting was created on 2021-10-05, with an original application closing date of 2021-12-06. The award ceiling is $500,000. Eligibility is unrestricted, meaning all potential applicants are eligible to apply, which can include entities such as nonprofits, universities, local or state agencies, tribal governments, and other organizations capable of carrying out field monitoring and data reporting to the required standards.

Overall, the grant is designed to sustain a long-running, management-relevant monitoring program by supporting collection and reporting of high-quality RST-based juvenile salmonid data on two key Central Valley rivers. The emphasis is on standardized methods, dependable datasets, and reporting that can inform ongoing CVPIA-related fisheries management, flow evaluation, and habitat restoration effectiveness over time.

• The Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Rotary Screw Trap Data Collection from the American and Stanislaus Rivers in California’s Central Valley and Reporting" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.648.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-10-05.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-12-06. (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 $500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for F22AS00045

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