Kootenay River bull trout radio-telemetry $15,000

The Kootenay River flows through the Rocky Mountain Trench in British Columbia for approximately 200 km and drains into Lake Koocanusa, a reservoir formed by Libby Dam in Montana. The Kootenay River supports a number of sport fish species including westslope cutthroat trout, rainbow trout, bull trout, burbot and mountain whitefish. Bull trout spend their adult lives in the Kootenay River and spawn in tributary streams. This project supports a Ministry of Environment, Land and Parks' project to radio tag 40 adult bull trout in the Kootenay River (between Wardner and Canal Flats) and follow them to their spawning grounds. Potential spawning streams include the Bull River, St. Mary River, Lussier River, Skookumchuck Creek, Findlay Creek and White River; however, spawning locations within these systems have not been identified, and all these systems are being actively logged. This is the first of a 2 year radio telemetry project to identify critical (summer, over-wintering and spawning) habitats for protection and possible enhancement. In addition, this project will determine if the bull trout in the Kootenay River are one large interconnected meta-population or several smaller discrete populations. This information is critical to the management of bull trout in the upper Kootenay River and integral to determining operational effects of Aberfeldie and Elko Power Plants.

Objectives/anticipated outcomes:

• capture and radio tag 40 adult bull trout in the Kootenay River between Canal Flats and Wardner with 24 month radio transmitters

• follow radio-tagged bull trout tagged in the Kootenay River for two years by fixed wing and helicopter in order to identify summer migration and holding areas, overwintering habitat and preferred spawning streams (for example, through radio telemetry it has been determined that the Wigwam River bull trout spend the winter in Lake Koocanusa on the Montana side of the International border. It is important to determine if these Kootenay River bull trout spend the winter in the Kootenay River or migrate downstream into Lake Koocanusa; management implications require resolution of bull trout as a single large meta-population or several smaller discrete populations)

• identify bull trout spawning streams tributary to the Kootenay River and critical spawning habitat within these streams

• determine the status and life history characteristics (spawning, overwintering and summer habitat) of resident bull trout in the Kootenay River and its tributaries.
  
  These objectives will provide reliable data on which to base effective and defensible protection, enhancement and management strategies
  
  

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