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PROGRAMS
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Columbia
River white sturgeon stewardship
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Columbia
River white sturgeon stewardship
This program seeks to engage local communities in efforts to
restore endangered Canadian Columbia River populations of white
sturgeon. With funding provided by Environment Canada in early
2001, this program involves:
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Compiling
local and aboriginal knowledge about the historic distribution
and habitat use of white sturgeon
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Support to
the Recovery Team and the Action Planning Group responsible
for developing a White Sturgeon Recovery Plan
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Development
of educational resource materials
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Finding opportunities
to incorporate education about white sturgeon into public
school curricula
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Assessing
the feasibility of a web-enabled 'sturgeon cam' at the confluence
of the Columbia and Pend d'Oreille Rivers
Canadian Columbia
River white sturgeon populations are considered endangered by
the Canadian Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife
in Canada (COSEWIC) and the the BC Conservation Data Centre.
Sturgeon in the Columbia River downstream of the Hugh Keenleyside
Dam (near Castlegar) have been studied intensively since 1990.
There are about 1,100 sturgeon in this population, which ranges
as far downstream as Kettle Falls in Washington. A remnant sturgeon
population has also been found in the Arrow reservoir, consisting
of 50 - 100 fish. A small number of fish have been found in
Slocan Lake, and fishermen have reported seeing the occasional
sturgeon in the Kinbasket (Mica) and Revelstoke reservoirs.
The white sturgeon population in Kootenay Lake and upstream
in the Kootenay River to the Libby Dam has been separated from
the Columbia River by a barrier at Bonnington Falls for about
10,000 years. The Kootenay Lake population is considered distinct
and recovery efforts are underway for this population, led by
the Kootenay Tribe of Idaho and US agencies.
The problem for Canadian Columbia River white sturgeon is that
there has been very few , new young sturgeon join the population
for more than 20 years, since the major dams (Keenleyside, Revelstoke,
Mica) were completed. While fishing is now prohibited, and there
appear to be few deaths from other causes, the Columbia River
white sturgeon will become extinct if nothing is done to ensure
that they reproduce successfully and that young sturgeon survive
to the adult stage.
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