Revelstoke students help BC Hydro release juvenile sturgeon
REVELSTOKE – Local students will enjoy providing a helping hand – literally – to an endangered species. Two Mountain View Elementary school classes will help BC Hydro release juvenile white sturgeon into the Columbia River downstream of Revelstoke dam on April 23.
"To gently release one of these prehistoric like creatures is a memorable experience," said James Crossman, White Sturgeon Program Lead for BC Hydro. "It is fitting that these young stewards will play the leading role as their generation will be saving these ancients of the deep."
The release is organized by BC Hydro under the Columbia River Water Use Plan and will take place at the Revelstoke Centennial Park boat launch between 1 and 3 p.m. on Thursday, April 23.
The 10-month-old juvenile fish weigh about 60 grams and are between 15 and 25 centimetres in length. A total of 4,000 fish will be released.
White sturgeon can live to over 100 years, grow to the length of a canoe and weigh over 800 kilograms. They are North America's largest freshwater fish and a species that has remained largely unchanged for about 175 million years.
The Revelstoke release is supported by a variety of contributing partners, including BC Hydro, B.C. Ministry of Environment, Revelstoke Rod and Gun Club, Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program (FWCP), Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Golder Associates.
BC Hydro's white sturgeon release supports the work of the Upper Columbia White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative, a unique partnership between Canada and the United States. Over 25 federal, provincial and local governments, First Nations and American tribes, industry, environmental and other groups are working together to restore a naturally sustaining population of white sturgeon in the Columbia River Basin.
Source: BC Hydro News
Contact:
Jennifer Walker-Larsen
Stakeholder Engagement Advisor
TOC Community Relations
Phone: 250 814 6645