Movements of White Sturgeon in Lake Roosevelt : Final Report 1988-1991.
Historically, white sturgeon moved throughout the Columbia River system, ranging freely from the estuary to the headwaters, with the possible exception of limited passage at Cascades, Celilo and Kettle Falls during spring floods. Construction of Rock Island Dam in 1933, followed by Bonneville in 1938 and Grand Coulee in 1941, completely disrupted sturgeon migratory opportunity, and with the 17 successive Columbia and Snake river dams constructed over the next 32 years an entirely different river system was created for the species. Sturgeon caught between dams were essentially isolated populations with severely limited reproduction potential. Some reservoirs ran from dam to dam with no river habitat remaining, while other reaches had various lengths of free running river, but drastically reduced from historical situations. However, if reservoirs provide habitat for sturgeon use, and therefore compensate to some degree for river loss, the major limiting factors associated with population viability may be reduced spawning success, either from lack of suitable area or poor incubation environments. The most upstream impoundment of the Columbia River in the United States is Lake Roosevelt, behind Grand Coulee Dam. If sturgeon don`t use Lake Roosevelt the capacity of the system to sustain a large sturgeon population would be understandably limited, and much reduced from the pre-dam era. In general this study found that sturgeon spawner aggregations from early spring to mid- summer depend most heavily on the timing of increasing water temperature. In the spring the water temperatures seem to stimulate the fish to start feeding and leave deep pools. The summer provides access to broader and shallower areas for food. The study on sturgeon movement was an attempt to define habitat use in such a reservoir/river system.
- Research Organization:
- University of Idaho. Aquaculture Institute.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Bonneville Power Administration
- DOE Contract Number:
- 89BP97298
- OSTI ID:
- 10109586
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/BP-97298-2; ON: DE95004884; TRN: 95:001245
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Jun 1992
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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