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If you have any questions on the information presented, or require additional report data or attachments, please contact the Report Contact
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The following Upper Kootenay Burbot Conservation Strategy stems from a collaboration among the members of the East Kootenay Burbot Scientific Working Group (EKBSW). The goal is to provide a document outlining the restoration of Burbot in the upper Kootenay River for distribution, communication and input from all levels of government, First Nations, Communities of Interest, stakeholders and potential funding partners.
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Author: Cope, A.
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Old Reference Number: UKE-F19-F-2734
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Old Reference System: FWCP Fish Wildlife Compensation Program - Columbia
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Date Published: Mar 2019
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Report ID: 57454
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Audience: Government and Public
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The following Upper Kootenay Burbot Conservation Strategy stems from a collaboration among the members of the East Kootenay Burbot Scientific Working Group (EKBSW). The Conservation Strategy was based on input collected from the EKBSW at January and June 2018 meetings in Cranbrook, B.C. The goal is to provide a document outlining the restoration of Burbot in the upper Kootenay River for distribution, communication and input from all levels of government, First Nations, Communities of Interest, stakeholders and potential funding partners.
The EKBSW was formed in December 2015 to direct research, monitoring and management of Burbot (Lota lota) in the East Kootenay. This area included the upper Kootenay River, its tributaries and lakes from Kootenai Falls in Montana upstream to its headwaters in British Columbia and the upper Columbia River, its tributaries and lakes from Golden to its headwaters at Columbia Lake.
Since 2016, the EKBSW has reviewed existing information, identified gaps in knowledge, and directed initiatives on Burbot in the East Kootenay. Collaboration among partners has implemented robust methods to collect relative abundance information for Burbot in the upper Kootenay River and Koocanusa Reservoir, the St. Mary River and St. Mary Lake, and Columbia Lake. The conclusion of the EKBSW in 2017 was that there was an urgent need for recovery of Burbot populations in the East Kootenay.
Burbot are an iconic food fish of First Nations within the East Kootenay; as well as early European settlers and more recent residents within the region. Historically, Burbot fishing was unregulated and Burbot were harvested on spawning grounds with spears, pitchforks and later, using setlines. In the 1900's artisanal commercial fisheries for Burbot evolved and markets for Burbot existed in Bonners Ferry Idaho into the mid-1990's. Burbot have also supported several popular recreational fisheries. In the mid-1970's through the late 1990's Burbot population declines and collapses were documented in Kootenay Lake and the Kootenay River (Kootenai in U.S.).
Within the East Kootenay region, increasingly restrictive Burbot harvest regulations have been implemented with no effect. Decades of monitoring demonstrate the upper Kootenay River population has collapsed and the continued low abundance threatens their viability and persistence. As Burbot populations in the lower Kootenay River reached similar abundance levels, the Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative (KVRI) developed a Conservation Strategy to prevent the extirpation projected to occur within a decade. Without immediate, substantive management actions, native Burbot in the upper Kootenay River watershed will likely share the same fate of the lower Kootenay River and Kootenay Lake populations and disappear completely or be functionally extinct.
Based on the success of Burbot restoration efforts in the lower Kootenay River, the recommendation of the EKBSW was to collaborate with the KVRI to adopt and build upon their methods. This includes the development and implementation of a Burbot Conservation Strategy that employs a conservation aquaculture program in an adaptive management framework to direct recovery efforts of East Kootenay Burbot populations. The upper Kootenay River strategy represents the first phase of the larger EKBSW initiative. It is anticipated the upper Columbia River Burbot Conservation Strategy (Golden to Columbia Lake) will follow once the upper Kootenay River strategy has been implemented and demonstrating the anticipated improvements in population abundance, viability and sustainability.
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Report Type
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Fish and Aquatic Habitat Information |
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Subject
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Fish Species - Burbot - Lota lota |
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Fish and Fish Habitat - Restoration |
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Watershed Groups - 349 - Upper Kootenay |
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Program Specific Area - FWCP |
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