The Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program and the B.C. Ministry of Environment (through the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC) fund the upper Columbia white sturgeon aquaculture (hatchery) program. Before any juveniles can be reared in captivity, however, there is the challenge of collecting eggs and milt (sperm) from adult sturgeon. Given that the upper Columbia white sturgeon population is endangered - and the fish are very large – finding and "processing" them is no small feat.
The rearing and release of juvenile sturgeon is just one component in the recovery effort that is being coordinated by the Upper Columbia White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative (UCWSRI). Biologists are still working towards solving the mystery of why sturgeon are not reproducing in the wild, and more work has to be done on improving habitat. That said, the aquaculture component has played a key role in helping the white sturgeon. In the last five years more than 80,000 ten-month old juveniles have been released into the upper Columbia River.
To rear approximately 12,000 juveniles each year the hatchery requires six to eight adult families (the broodstock). A female only spawns every four to seven years, and only when the water conditions are right. If not, she will re-absorb her eggs. In the natural environment a female may broadcast between 100,000 and 1,000,000 sticky eggs that will adhere to the river bottom, with one or more males fertilizing them. In the controlled setting of the hatchery, this is mimicked with the eggs of one female being mixed with the milt of more than one male.
The broodstock collection, which is primarily funded by BC Hydro, usually occurs in June near spawning locations in the Columbia River between the U.S. border and Hugh Keenleyside Dam near Castlegar.
For more information about the Upper Columbia White Sturgeon recovery Initiative, visit www.uppercolumbiasturgeon.org.
