Kootenai River White Sturgeon Investigations and Experimental Culture, 1992 Annual Report.
Setline and angling techniques were used to sample 64 white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus from the Kootenai River in 1992. Of those sampled, 15 were recaptures from previous years of this study. A total of 429 white sturgeon were captured from March 1989 through September 1992. Fork lengths of white sturgeon in the total sample ranged from 88 to 274 cm. The data indicated there was a complete lack of recruitment of juveniles into the population which was estimated in 1990 at 880 individuals with a 95% confidence interval of 638 to 1,211. Annual mortality of white sturgeon from 1982 to 1991 was 0.0374. Approximately 80% of the population was more than 20 years old and was reproductively mature. An ongoing sonic telemetry study revealed long distance movements among adults. Sturgeon regularly moved across the British Columbia-Idaho border. Sturgeon used deep holes in the river or migrated to Kootenai Lake during late fall. During spring and early summer, reproductively mature sturgeon moved from 15 to 110 kilometers upriver and congregated within 15 kilometers downriver from Bonners Ferry in areas of elevated water velocity. This behavior coincided with increasing discharge and water temperatures. The authors monitored movements of five reproductively mature female white sturgeon. The fish responded to increasing then decreasing flows by moving upriver then downriver, respectively. All five fish quickly moved to Kootenai Lake when flows dropped suddenly from higher than 20 kcfs to less than 10 kcfs. One fish was recaptured and was reabsorbing eggs. Trawling and sampling with mats of artificial substrate failed to capture white sturgeon eggs or larvae in 1992. One hundred and four age 1 and 14 age 2 hatchery-reared Kootenai white sturgeon were released into the Idaho section of the river in 1992. Telemetry of six of the larger juveniles showed general downriver movement from September into November.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Bonneville Power Administration
- DOE Contract Number:
- 1988BP93497
- OSTI ID:
- 10119399
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/BP-93497-4; ON: DE94006094; TRN: 94:001674
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Nov 1993
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Kootenai River White Sturgeon Investigations, 1993 Annual Report.
Kootenai River White Sturgeon Investigations and Experimental Culture, 1989-1990 Annual Report.