Work on Twin Rivers hatchery to begin
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May 17, 2013 |
The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho will begin
construction of a new hatchery at the Twin
River’s Resort in June of 2013. The Twin Rivers
Hatchery will produce Kootenai River white
sturgeon and native burbot.
The hatchery will be located at the same site as
the Twin Rivers Resort about nine miles
northeast of Bonners Ferry at the confluence of
the Moyie and Kootenai rivers.
The Twin River Resort will be closed for the
2013 season due to safety concerns including
excavation work, use of heavy equipment and
congestion on the narrow winding road leading to
the Twin Rivers Resort. This will include
closure of the day use facilities and the boat
ramp as well.
A grand reopening of the Twin Rivers Resort and
celebration of the new Twin Rivers Hatchery will
take place in 2014.
The new hatchery will help restore populations
of Kootenai sturgeon and reintroduce native
burbot, both of which were once plentiful in the
Kootenai River but dropped to dangerously low
numbers in the last 50 to 100 years. These fish
once provided important tribal and recreational
fisheries but today there are only about 1,000
wild Kootenai sturgeon left and native Kootenai
River burbot are almost extinct.
The Kootenai Tribe began a Kootenai River white
sturgeon conservation aquaculture program in
1988 as an experimental effort. Since that time
much has been learned about sturgeon culture and
over 300 wild adults have been spawned and many
young sturgeon released into the Kootenai River
where they are surviving and growing well.
Currently the tribe produces Kootenai sturgeon
at the Kootenai Tribal Hatchery, a small
conservation aquaculture facility on Tribal land
near Bonners Ferry.
However, space at the Kootenai Tribal Hatchery
is limited and there is not enough room there to
allow for changes needed to improve sturgeon
rearing conditions, to capture maximum genetic
diversity of the aging population, and allow for
program flexibility.
In 2004 the Tribe began working with experts at
the University of Idaho to develop burbot
culture techniques. Since there is no history of
burbot hatcheries anywhere, this has been a very
unique project. The tribe and University of
Idaho have learned a lot since 2004 and have
figured out how to successfully produce burbot
in a hatchery.
The Tribe also conducted experimental burbot
releases in 2009 through 2012 and found that the
burbot survive well in the Kootenai River and
distribute themselves widely.
The Twin Rivers Hatchery will allow the
experimental burbot program to move into the
full production phase. Since there is no space
available at the current Tribal Sturgeon
Hatchery for the new burbot program,
construction of the new Twin Rivers Hatchery is
critical to Kootenai River burbot conservation.
Kootenai River white sturgeon were listed as
Endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1994
and a Recovery Plan was completed in 1999. In
2005, the Kootenai Tribe in coordination with
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Kootenai
Valley Resources Initiative, agency partners and
other stakeholders completed the Conservation
Strategy for Lower Kootenai River Burbot. The
Kootenai sturgeon and burbot conservation
aquaculture programs help to meet the goals and
objectives of the Kootenai River white sturgeon
Recovery Plan and the Conservation Strategy for
Lower Kootenai River Burbot.
The tribe’s Kootenai River white sturgeon and
burbot conservation aquaculture programs are an
important piece of a long-term coordinated
effort by many different entities to recover
healthy, naturally producing populations of
Kootenai sturgeon and burbot in the Kootenai
River. In addition to the hatchery program this
larger effort includes habitat restoration in
the Kootenai River, addition of nutrients,
wildlife mitigation and monitoring and
evaluation activities.
The Bonneville Power Administration is the
primary funder for the planning, design and
construction of the new hatchery through the
Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Fish
and Wildlife Program. This funding comes from
power revenues associated with the Columbia
River Federal Power System and is provided to
help meet federal fish and wildlife mitigation
obligations.
Additional information about the Twin Rivers
Hatchery or the Tribe’s other actions to restore
Kootenai sturgeon, burbot and their habitats is
posted on:
www.restoringthekootenai.org.
Additional information about the Twin Rivers
Canyon Resort is posted on:
www.twinriversresort.com.
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