Kids from Begbie View and Arrow Heights Elementary Schools had an exciting morning n Tuesday, May 9, when they went to the Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program’s annual Juvenile Sturgeon Release Program at Shelter Bay.
Here are some of the fact that the kids learned from FWCP biologist Angus Glass:
- The release event was organized by the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program (FWCP) with support from the Revelstoke Rod and Gun Club, the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC and BC Hydro.
- Approximately 1,600 juvenile White Sturgeon, up to two years of age were released on Tuesday, May 9, at Shelter Bay. The average release size is 400 grams. They were raised at the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC’s Kootenay Trout Hatchery in the East Kootenay, from larvae that were collected in the wild in 2015. This aquaculture program is funded by BC Hydro.
- Though releases of hatchery raised sturgeon into the Arrow Lakes have been occurring since 2007, very few individuals have been recaptured as a part of ongoing monitoring programs. It will take time to be able to tell whether recovery efforts in Arrow Lakes Reservoir are making a difference and, in an area as large as Arrow Lakes Reservoir, finding and capturing small white sturgeon is extremely difficult. More than 60,000 juveniles have been released since 2007, and monitoring will continue in order to determine survival rates.
- The population of sturgeon in Arrow Lakes Reservoir is estimated at roughly 50 adults and are known to spawn near Revelstoke.
- The Sturgeon Recovery Initiative is a partnership of more than 20 stakeholders from government, First Nations, industry, community and environmental organizations. Sturgeon recovery includes research to determine the causes of decline, release of hatchery-reared juveniles from wild stock adults, restoration of habitat, and monitoring and management of water flows.
Here are a couple of photos from their dsy:
