Sturgeon Conservation Centre Hits Halfway Mark
Wednesday, October 2, 2013 @ 3:47 AM
Aerial view of Conservation Centre Construction – photo submitted
Vanderhoof, B.C.- The construction of the Nechako White Sturgeon Conservation Centre has reached the halfway mark.
The facility is on target to start operations in the spring of 2014.
Built at an estimated cost of $5.5 million dollars, the centre has been on a wish list for a decade. It is a key component in a plan to support and sustain the Nechako White Sturgeon which has been in decline. In the 1960s, the Nechako River was home to an estimated 5,000 white sturgeon. Today fewer than 300 of these prehistoric creatures remain. The Nechako white sturgeon was declared an endangered species in 2003 and listed under the federal Species at Risk Act in 2006.
Over the past 45 years, spawning rates for adult sturgeon have dropped far below levels needed to sustain the river’s sturgeon population. Sturgeon produced at similar facilities on the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers are showing excellent survival rates and similar results are expected on the Nechako.
The Nechako White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative’s (NWRSI), Technical Working Group (TWG) has prepared a recovery plan for the species that includes not only a sturgeon conservation hatchery but a comprehensive research program that aims to identify and remove survival bottlenecks for wild sturgeon and improve the health of the Nechako watershed for sturgeon and other species.
“We are pleased with the progress of the facility” said Community Working Group (CWG) Chair Brian Frenkel, “ and I’m very excited that this coming spring the Conservation Centre staff will be capturing brood stock (mature male and females) and raising the group of young sturgeon.”
Each year, the facility will release up to 12,000 juvenile sturgeon into the river in an effort to rebuild the population . The juveniles will be tagged prior to release to the river so their behaviour and survival can be closely monitored.
Rio Tinto Alcan will cover an estimated $450,000 in annual operating costs over the next 10 years, $400,000 of which will come from the Nechako Environmental Enhancement Fund, established in 1997 to address the downstream impacts of Kenney Dam on the Nechako.
The construction and operation of Conservation Centre is the responsibility Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC, a private, non-profit fisheries services organization.
Comments
Sturgeon especially like the deep holes in the river. One long hole just north of Chilako River and down river from Isle Pierre is prime habituate for them.
Problem as I see it is the Nechako doesn’t get the floods it use to get and therefore the river has widened and flattened out some of the holes aren’t so deep anymore as they’ve filled in. I think that is one of the biggest problems for the Sturgeon.
I think the ideal solution would be to dig a deep channel along the Nechako near where it dumps into the Fraser. Mitigate ice jam flood potential while helping save the sturgeon….
Eagle one, you got it right on.
The confluence of the two rivers do need a deep trench to reduce the flooding potential.
The rivers need the deep holes. where the river goes from 100ft wide down to 40 ft wide, just need to build winglets out of precast concrete, than the river action can scour its own depths.
I guess if it makes sense to the average Joe, the smarty pants will find reasons on why it wouldn’t work so they can hang on their cushy jobs.
Very nice project. But was tendered very differently. All of a sudden some contractor out of Victoria is building, never saw it go to public tender. Must be one of those back door deals.
Eagle One & He Spoke ,you are correct
about the deepening of the river.
That is what they do on the lower Fraser
River around the Mission area.
Check out the Province’s following program.
“Fraser River Sediment Management Program”
Wahoo, I was right…. and its even noted on the internet. Wahoo
Sturgeon can be found anywhere in a river, but they also really like slower moving sections and water that is MUCH shallower than one would think (5-15 feet deep not being uncommon). I’m not sure what the average depth at the confluence of the Nechako and Fraser is, but you can be sure that it is already plenty deep for the fish.
Damn near walked across the whole river a few weeks ago at the confluence and it was barely knee deep. Wide as five football fields but only knee deep other than a few small holes.
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