Designing a Burbot Hatchery for Population Restoration

Since 2001, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho (KTOI) has been collaborating with the University of Idaho; British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations; and Idaho Department of Fish and Game to restore Burbot abundance in the lower Kootenai/y River/Lake via conservation aquaculture.  These efforts have yielded significant advances in aquaculture techniques for a species that has historically received little attention.  This work has demonstrated that large-scale aquaculture of Burbot is feasible, and has provided hatchery-reared Burbot for experimental purposes and to initiate population re-building.  Construction of a new conservation aquaculture facility (Twin Rivers Hatchery) to support Burbot and white sturgeon spawning and rearing was completed during 2014.  The Twin Rivers Hatchery staff is rearing its first year class during 2015.  The goal of the future program is to produce juvenile and/or age-1 Burbot at a scale needed for population recovery while balancing genetic considerations with overall population structure considerations.  The “Basis of Design” of the Burbot facility will be discussed, and an update of the first year production results will be presented.  The main objective is to convey some of the main considerations in planning long-term conservation aquaculture programs to restore Burbot populations.