Proposal title | Monitor and Protect Bull Trout for Koocanusa Reservoir |
Proposal ID | 200000400 |
Organization | BC Environment (BCE) |
Proposal contact person or principal investigator |
Name | Bill Westover |
Mailing address | 205 Industrial Road G, Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada V1C 6H3 |
Phone / email | 2504898557 / Bill.Westover@gems4.gov.bc.ca |
Manager authorizing this project | Rick Morley, Regional Fish and Wildlife Manager |
Review cycle | FY 2001 Ongoing |
Province / Subbasin | Mountain Columbia / Kootenai |
Short description | Assess and monitor the status of wild, native spawning populations of bull trout in tributaries to Lake Koocanusa and the upper Kootenay River and to protect these fish from inappropriate reservoir operating regimes and logging practices. |
Target species | |
Year | Accomplishment |
1996 |
Operated a fence and trap on the Wigwam River and weighed, measured and tagged 862 spawning bull trout. |
|
Radio tagged 10 bull trout in co-operation with Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MDFWP). |
|
Enumerated 512 bull trout redds in the Wigwam drainage. |
|
Ages were determined for forty bull trout and they ranged from 5 to 13 years old. |
1997 |
Operated a fence and trap on the Wigwam River and weighed, measured and tagged 616 spawning bull trout |
|
Radio tagged six bull trout and sonic tagged 10 bull trout in co-operation with MDFWP. |
|
Enumerated 598 bull trout redds in the Wigwam drainage. |
|
Low level color aerial photography of the Wigwam River was completed at a scale of 1:3000. |
|
Bull trout fry and juvenile density and pebble counts were conducted at ten sites. |
|
Temperature data recorders were installed a three locations by MDFWP. |
1998 |
Operated a fence and trap on the Wigwam River and weighed, measured and tagged 821 spawning bull trout. |
|
Radio tagged 10 bull trout in co-operation with MDFWP |
|
Enumerated 679 bull trout redds in the Wigwam drainage |
|
Conducted a creel survey on the lower Elk and Wigwam Rivers. A total of 1,514 anglers caught and released 3,867 cutthroat trout, 648 bull trout and 52 rainbow trout. |
|
McNeil core samples were collected at three permanent stations by MDFWP. |
1999 |
Operated a fence and trap on the Wigwam River and weighed, measured and tagged 978 spawning bull trout. |
|
Enumerated 849 bull trout redds in the Wigwam drainage. |
|
Fecundity estimates were completed for a size range of female bull trout (n = 9). |
|
Completed the second year of a creel survey which was restricted to the lower Elk River from June 15 to July 31 and from October 31 to October 31. An estimated 365 anglers caught and released 450 bull trout and 107 cutthroat trout. |
|
McNeil core samples were collected at three permanent stations by MDFWP. |
|
Crestbrook Forest Industries Ltd. (in conjunction with MoELP) initiated a water quality and quantity monitoring program on the Wigwam River. |
|
A paper (Baxter el al. 1999) was presented at the Ecology and Management of Northwest Salmonids: Bull Trout II Conference (Canmore, Alberta, November 1999) which discuss flow and PIT tag retention rates for Wigwam River bull trout. |
Objective | Task | Duration in FYs | Estimated 2001 cost | Subcontractor |
1. Assess and monitor the metapopulation strength of transboundary (British Columbia and Montana) populations of bull trout in the Kootenay River above Libby Dam. |
a. Enumerate bull trout redds on the Wigwam River and its tributaries. |
5 |
$2,000 |
|
1. |
b. Map (digitize) Wigwam bull trout redds on 1:20,000 Terrain Resource Information Management (TRIM) maps. |
5 |
$1,300 |
Yes |
1. |
c. Enumerate bull trout redds on Skookumchuck Creek and its tributaries |
5 |
$700 |
|
1. |
d. Map (digitize) Skookumchuck bull trout redds on 1:20,000 TRIM maps. |
5 |
$800 |
Yes |
1. |
e. Operate a fence and trap on Skookumchuck Creek to enumerate, tag and collect biological data on bull trout. |
5 |
$19,200 |
Yes |
1. |
f. Track movements of radio tagged bull trout in the Kootenay River upstream of Lake Koocanusa |
3 |
$10,000 |
Yes |
2. Monitor habitat and estimate bull trout fry and juvenile densities at permanent sites on the Wigwam River |
a. Establish five permanent stations and collect Rosgen and Fish Habitat Assessment data. |
5 |
$6,000 |
Yes |
2. |
b. Collect and analyze McNeil core samples at three permanent stations. |
5 |
$4,000 |
|
2. |
c. Estimate bull trout fry and juvenile densities. |
5 |
$10,000 |
Yes |
2. |
d. Link bull trout fry and juvenile densities to spawner escapement and habitat suitability. |
5 |
$1,400 |
Yes |
3. Support Rosgen training for Kootenay Fisheries Specialist. |
a. Enroll Fisheries Specialist in training courses with Wildlands Hydrology Consultants |
3 |
$5,000 |
|
Rounding errors when converting from Canadian to US dollars.
This information was not provided on the original proposals, but was generated during the review process.