NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
April 17, 2009
Freshwater Fisheries Society of British Columbia

CRANBROOK – Its springtime and that can only mean that the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. (FFSBC) is getting ready to release some of its youngest charges into the Columbia and Kootenay Rivers. As part of the FFSBC’s ongoing participation in sturgeon recovery programs in British Columbia, staff from the Kootenay Trout Hatchery will once again be joining forces with several local school groups to hold sturgeon release events in several locations throughout the Kootenays over the week of April 19th. “Our annual sturgeon releases are both entertaining and educational” said FFSBC Fish Culturist Ron Ek. “Our young assistants have a great time and they learn about these important fish and how we can all help in the recovery of white sturgeon in B.C.”

Local schoolchildren will get hands-on experience with sturgeon during this year’s releases. Participants will be given the opportunity to record the PIT tag number of an individual sturgeon and then release the fish by hand. The PIT tag will allow fisheries biologist to track the sturgeon’s progress in the coming years.

Over the week of April 19th staff from the Kootenay Trout Hatchery and their community partners will hold several release events:

April 20th – Sturgeon release event at Sutcliff Farm in Creston. Local school children will participate in a morning event and the public is invited to participate in the sturgeon release from noon until 2:00 PM. The release will occur at the old ferry landing.

April 21st – Sturgeon releases in Montana and Idaho. The sturgeons to be released in the United States are part of the KTOI Sturgeon Recovery Program but were raised at the Kootenay Trout Hatchery.

April 22nd – Sturgeon release event at the Hugh Keenleyside Dam in Castlegar. Local school children will participate in the morning event and the public is invited to participate in the afternoon between 2:00 and 4:00 PM.

April 23rd – Sturgeon release event at Revelstoke City Park in Revelstoke. Local school children will participate in a release event from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. More sturgeon will be released in the evening but no public event is planned.

For more information on the FFSBC’s sturgeon recovery activities or information on hatchery tours, special programs, regional lake stocking information or free fishing tips, please contact the Kootenay Trout Hatchery at 250-429-3214, or visit our website at: www.gofishbc.com.

For more information contact:
Doug Crawley
Kootenay Trout Hatchery
250-429-3214