Revelstoke Council will consider the placement of a hatchery which would look to help the at-risk white sturgeon population in the Columbia River at the upcoming council meeting on May 9.
Earlier this year, BC Hydro contacted the City of Revelstoke to ask for their cooperation on a project that hopes to improve the Columbia White Sturgeon population, including the fish that reside in the Arrow Lakes Reservoir between Hugh L. Keenleyside and Revelstoke dams.
READ MORE: Public invited to sturgeon release on Arrow Lakes near Revelstoke
BC Hydro proposed the ‘stream-side mobile hatchery’ to increase the ‘probability of larval survival and to maintain the existing population diversity’ of the mid-Columbia white sturgeon. The hatchery would be located on the southeastern edge of Revelstoke Golf Course, on city-owned land leased to the Revelstoke Golf Club.
The hatchery, which would exist in one trailer, would pull natural water from the river and circulate it over collected sturgeon eggs to incubate them until they hatch. Once hatched, the white sturgeon would be transported to Cranbrook to be raised until the next year and then released.
According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), local white sturgeon populations have been negatively affected by the construction of hydroelectric dams, diking and drainage projects, decreasing food resources, and declining water quality due to human activity over the last century.
The hatchery would be in place on the Columbia River at the golf club from June 1, 2023, to September 30, 2025, with an option to extend the licence for another two years.
According to the staff report, the Revelstoke Golf Club supports the plan for the hatchery.
READ MORE: Revelstoke pipers and drummers take home prize at Kelowna Spring Fling
@josh_piercey
josh.piercey@revelstokereview.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.