Considerations for Restoring Kootenai River White Sturgeon and Burbot via Conservation Aquaculture

The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho’s Native Fish Conservation Aquaculture Program (KTOI-NFCAP) operates two hatcheries to support Kootenai River White Sturgeon and Burbot population restoration.  The conservation aquaculture program objectives are to rear fish in a manner that maximizes post-release survival, growth, and sexual maturity, while ensuring proper genetic diversity.  The program aims to ward off extinction/extirpation in the short-term, and to rebuild the population abundance to a self-sustaining level in the long-term.  To meet specific objectives, the facility designs were based on species specific, life-stage criteria derived from the best available science.  Science-based adaptive hatchery-operations are guided by information gathered  through an extensive post-release monitoring and evaluation program conducted by a group of fellow co-managing agencies (Idaho Department of Fish and Game; British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations; Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks) and a research component assisted by academia and the private sector.  Production and release strategies are determined by co-manager consensus through annual program reviews that utilize the research, monitoring and evaluation results.  This presentation will provide an overview of the considerations of operating a conservation aquaculture hatchery program versus a commercial operation by discussing some species specific examples for White Sturgeon and Burbot.