Recovery plan for Kootenai River white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus)

The white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) of the Kootenai River was list ed as endangered on September 6, 1994 by the United States Fish and Wildlif e Service. This transboundary population, residing in Kootenay Lake and Koo tenay River in Canada, and the Kootenai River in the US, has been in genera l decline since the mid-1960's. There has been very little recruitment to t his population in the last 20 years. This population became isolated from other white sturgeon populations of th e Columbia River basin during the last ice age of approximately 10,000 year s ago. The population adapted to the pre-development conditions of the Koot enai system, with a high spring freshet and extensive side channel and low- lying delta marshlands. Modification of the Kootenai River by human activit ies, such as industrial developments, floodplain dyking, and dam constructi on has changed the hydrograph of the Kootenai River, altering sturgeon spaw ning, incubation and rearing habitats and reducing overall biological produ ctivity. A Kootenai River white sturgeon draft recovery plan was prepared by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in cooperation with other agencies in the US and Canada. The plan was peer reviewed and there was a parallel public consulta tion process, where public commentary was invited from both sides of the in ternational border. The short-term recovery objectives of the recovery plan are to prevent extinction and re-establish successful natural recruitment. The identified long-term objectives are the re-establishment of a self sus taining population and the restoration of productive habitat, in order to d ownlist to threatened status and subsequently delist this population when r ecovery is well established. Specific actions needed for recovery include s pring flow augmentation during the reproduction period; a conservation aqua culture program to prevent near-term extinction; habitat restoration, and r esearch and monitoring programs to evaluate recovery progress.