Kootenai River White Sturgeon Studies and Conservation Aquaculture

1. Kootenai River White Sturgeon Studies and Conservation Aquaculture Project Sponsor: Kootenai Tribe of Idaho Funded by: Bonneville Power Administration

2. KootenaiTribe’s Approach to Fish and Wildlife Management • Holistic – operate on a watershed scale • Defensible science and methodology • Biologically and logistically feasible • Model collaborative and interdisciplinary effort • Inclusive of social and economic issues • Maintain strong local community support • Encourage rigorous adaptive management

3. White Sturgeon in the Kootenai River • Separated from the rest of the Columbia population 10,000 years ago • Transboundary population • Decline in population due to results of development in the Kootenai drainage

5. White Sturgeon Response to Development • Failure to Complete Life Cycle • egg suffocation/incomplete incubation • predation • larval food limitation/starvation • over-wintering energy deficiency • Result: • AGING POPULATION AND VIRTUAL LACK OF RECRUITMENT

6. Libby Dam Altered hydrograph and thermograph • Spring flows reduced by 50% and winter flows increased by 300% • Thermograph – warmer in winter (40C) and cooler in spring (20C)

7. Potential Factors Contributing to Recruitment Failure • Hydraulic energy reduced and periodic flushing flows eliminated (egg suffocation)USGS, KTOI, IDFG • Nutrient sink – loss of productivity (starvation) KTOI, IDFG, MFWP, BC ME • Disconnection of river from the floodplain (habitat loss, decrease in productivity) KTOI • Species composition shift (predation) KTOI, IDFG • Water Pollution (bioaccumulation of contaminants and reduced reproductive success) USFWS, KTOI

10. White Sturgeon: Endangered

11. Priority Actions from 1999 Recovery Plan • Flow augmentation • Conservation aquaculture • Re-establish suitable habitat conditions to increase survival past egg/larval stage

12. Rationale for Conservation Aquaculture • Preserve existing genetic variability (Kincaid breeding plan) • Begin rebuilding healthy age-class structure • Prevent extinction while measures are implemented to restore habitat conditions for successful natural recruitment

13. Conservation Aquaculture Program Objectives • Produce 4-12 families per year using wild broodstock from the Kootenai River • Use preservation stocking criteria to produce up to 100 adults per family at reproductive age (20 – 25 years)

14. Monitoring and Evaluation of Program • Survival, growth and condition • Genetics • Animal health • Movement and habitat use

15. Protocol for Conservation Aquaculture Program • Collect and spawn 3-6 wild females and 6-12 wild males annually • Maintain separate families to retain identity • Use BC Ministry facility for back-up and contribution to stocking goals • Mark with PIT tag and scute removal • Release up to 1,500 fish per family (Age 11 to 16 months)

16. Conservation Aquaculture Program Summary1990-2003 Spawned 36 females and 76 males from wild white sturgeon population 76 families produced between 1990-2003 Released over 20,000 juveniles between 1992-2002(Kootenai River and Kootenay Lake)

17. RESULTS (continued) • Facility upgrades initiated in 1999 to improve water quality and quantity, and improve reliability through equipment upgrades and redundancy • Implemented partnership in 1999 with BC MF for “fail-safe” facility

18. RESULTS (continued) Egg to Larval survival– 1.8% to 86% Annual number of Families – 1-11

19. RESULTS (continued) Annual releases by Year Class – 14 – 7,141

21. Survival Rate Estimation 1st year = 60% (±10%) Later yrs = 90% (±10%) * Year-specific recapture probabilities: <0.01 to 0.30

22. Growth • Recap. – release size • Slope = rate • Individual variability • Early “drop outs” • Average = 6.4 cm/yr • WSTG = 7.5 cm/yr • 1983 wild = 4.6 cm/yr

23. Condition • Often initial weight loss or no gain • Individual variability great • Condition factor low • Condition increases over time

24. Summary of Survival, Growth, and Condition Analysis • Initial adjustment period: survival reduced, growth low, & condition poor • Individual adaptation highly variable • Following adaptation: survival excellent, growth significant, & condition improves • Individual growth & condition in hatchery don’t translate into the wild

25. Genetics (P. Anders – University of Idaho Aquaculture Research Institute)

26. Conservation Aquaculture Research Cryopreservation of sturgeon gametes (U of I) Animal Health Research (Clear Springs Foods and U of I) Experimental release of sac fry (IDFG, BC, KTOI) Research to determine effect of environmental contaminants on reproduction and hatching success (Free-Run Aquatic Research) Feasibility of improving spawning habitat (USGS)

27. Empirically modeled trajectory of Kootenai River white sturgeon with and without hatchery intervention.

28. Conclusion Reducing the threat of extinction and loss of genetic variability by providing year classes from native broodstock Program will be updated (new and improved breeding and stocking plan) to reflect and respond to population demographic conditions Program will continue until repeatable natural recruitment can be re-established

29. Cooperators • Army Corps of Engineers • J-U-B Engineers • S.P. Cramer and Associates • EcoAnalysts • Upper Columbia United Tribes • Oregon State • University • Idaho Fish and Game • B.C. Ministry of Water, Land, and Air Protection • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service • Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks • University of Idaho • United States Geological Survey • College of Southern Idaho • University of California Davis • Clear Springs Foods • Free-Run Aquatic Research Funded by BPA through NWPPC’s Fish And Wildlife Program and Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority