Two-year-old hatchery-reared white sturgeon will be released into the Nechako River from Vanderhoof Riverside Park on Friday, June 6.
“Our most long-standing outreach and stewardship event sees over 800 elementary age school children from School District 91, First Nation and private school, plus home school students come to Riverside Park in Vanderhoof to learn about and participate in Nechako White Sturgeon conservation, “ notes a news release from the Nechako White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative. “Each learner gets to release a salmon fry, care of the Spruce City Wildlife Association.”
In total 63 juvenile sturgeon will be released into the river at the event, which goes from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The sturgeon have been reared at the Nechako White Sturgeon Conservation Centre for two winters to allow them to grow large enough to escape most predation risks after their release.
In addition to releasing fish, learners move through over 10 educational booths hosted by partner organizations such as Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Rio Tinto, the University of Northern British Columbia and more.
The event is co-hosted by School District 91, the District of Vanderhoof, Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC and the Nechako White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative, with support from Integris Credit Union. The event is open to the public to come watch and learn, however, due to the limited number of fish to release, there are no sturgeon available for the public to release.
In 2001, the Nechako White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative’s Community Working Group (CWG) was created. The CWG is composed of individuals that represent First Nations, non-government environmental organizations, industry, local and regional governments, and affected public.
The group’s mission is to provide input from individuals and organizations invested in the health of the Nechako River to the broader NWSRI, and to act first and foremost as a public advocate for Nechako White Sturgeon and the Recovery Initiative.
The CWG focuses on increasing the public’s awareness and knowledge about the recovery process, as well as the ecological problems facing the Nechako White Sturgeon. It is also concerned with building and maintaining community support for the recovery plan. To learn more about NWSRI please visit www.nechakowhitesturgeon.org.
Created in 2003, the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC is a private, not-for-profit organization, dedicated to the enhancement and conservation of B.C.’s freshwater fish resources for the benefit of the public. Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC staff operate the Nechako White Sturgeon Conservation Centre and hire students in the summer months to support research, aquaculture and conduct public tours.
