Survival, Movement, and Distribution of Juvenile Burbot in a Tributary of the Kootenai River

Burbot Lota lota in the lower Kootenai River have been the focus of extensive conservation efforts, particularly the release of juvenile Burbot into small tributaries.  In October of 2012, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game installed a fixed passive integrated transponder (PIT) antenna on Deep Creek, a tributary of the Kootenai River, to evaluate movement of juvenile Burbot to the Kootenai River.  Approximately 12,000 juvenile Burbot have been PIT tagged and released into Deep Creek since 2012, but few Burbot have been detected at the antenna.  This raised questions about the survival, movement, and distribution of Burbot in Deep Creek.  The objective of this study was to evaluate survival, movement, and distribution of Burbot released into Deep Creek.  Additional fixed PIT tag antennas were installed on Deep Creek in October of 2014 prior to stocking.  Fixed PIT tag antennas are providing data about movement of Burbot in Deep Creek. A census of Deep Creek, found 230 individual tags with ~87% of tags found within 1 km of a stocking location.  Mobile PIT tag antenna surveys of stocking locations in Deep Creek suggest poor dispersal from stocking locations.  Results of this study will improve efficacy of current stocking strategies.