Habitat Use of Juvenile Burbot and Patterns in Fish Assemblage Structure in a Tributary of the Kootenai River

Burbot Lota lota in the lower Kootenai River have been the focus of extensive conservation efforts, particularly conservation aquaculture.  Approximately 316,000 juvenile Burbot have been released throughout the Kootenai River system since 2009.  One of the primary strategies has been the release of juvenile Burbot in small tributaries.  Since 2012, about 12,000 juvenile Burbot have been released into Deep Creek, a small tributary of the Kootenai River. Understanding habitat use and species associations of Burbot and other species can provide insight into the life history strategies and a better understanding of how the system is functioning. This in turn, will facilitate successful restoration, conservation, and management of Burbot in the Kootenai River basin. The objective of this study was to evaluate habitat associations and species associations of Burbot in Deep Creek.  Nonmetric multidimensional scaling was used to examine patterns in fish assemblage structure in Deep Creek.  Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate fish species occurrences.  Results from this study will help to ensure efficient and effective stocking efforts, as well as provide insight on the ecology of burbot and other members of the fish assemblage in Deep Creek.