Thousands of young sturgeon are due to be released into the wild at Shelter Bay Provincial Park tomorrow morning Tuesday, May 8).
A total of 7,500 ten-month old juvenile white sturgeon raised from eggs collected from wild white sturgeon will be released during the event to help recover Columbia River white sturgeon populations.
This free public event will take place between 11:30 am and 1:30 pm.
BC Hydro finances the rearing of white sturgeon at the Freshwater Fisheries Kootenay Trout Hatchery for release into the Columbia River under the Columbia River Water Use Plan. This is the fifth year that BC Hydro, the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program and the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C., along with the Revelstoke Rod and Gun Club host a release event downstream of Revelstoke Dam.
White sturgeon are North America’s largest and longest-lived freshwater fish, reaching a maximum size of six metres (19 feet) and 682 kilograms (1,500 pounds). It is estimated that white sturgeon life expectancy can exceed more than a century. Current population estimates show that within the Canadian portion of the upper Columbia River basin approximately 50 adults reside in the Arrow Lakes Reservoir, with an additional 1,500 wild fish downstream of Hugh Keenlyside Dam in Castlegar. Researchers have recorded spawning, but have found very few young fish, indicating that few young sturgeon are surviving to adulthood.
The event is free and registration is not required. For more information contact BC Hydro at 250-814-6645.
Please click here for more information about the Upper Columbia White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative.
Please click here for more information about the Columbia River Water Use Plan.
