Migration of Kootenai River Leopards to Tributaries -

By Vaughn L. Paragamian Burbot are a fish species popularly known as ling, lingcod, or freshwater cod. Due to their spotting pattern, they have locally been referred to as Leopards of the Kootenai'. In the Idaho reach of the Kootenai River, burbot have been in decline for many years. There are probably many changes to the Kootenai River that have led to this decline including winter changes in flow from Libby Dam, reduced productivity (food production), and perhaps warmer winter water temperatures when burbot spawn. It is unlikely there is only one factor. There are many aspects of burbot life history that set them apart from other freshwater fishes. One of the interesting aspects are the different behavioral patterns that have helped them adapt to many different cold water habitats. Burbot are known to live and spawn in lakes, live in lakes and travel to rivers to spawn, live and spawn in a river, live in a river and spawn in small tributaries, and live in salt water and travel to freshwater to spawn (like salmon). Tagging burbot with sonic or radio transmitters has shown evidence that in the Kootenai River burbot have several life history strategies. There are burbot that live in Kootenay Lake of British Columbia and travel into Idaho to spawn, there are burbot that are known to live and spawn in the river, and there are burbot that live in the river and spawn in tributaries. Historically, the west side tributaries of the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry were very popular places for fisherman and local Native Americans to harvest burbot. Although angling for burbot has been closed for over a decade, reports by Idaho Department of Fish and Game (DFG) researchers casually searching for burbot suggested there were few if any burbot in the tributaries during winter. But over the past decade studies of burbot have focused primarily on the main Kootenay River, with the exception of the Goat River in British Columbia. Although some sampling was carried out on a few west side tributaries, it wasn't to the level that could adequately assess the present spawning use by burbot. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) and Kootenai Tribe of Idaho (KTOI) recently completed a cooperative study of burbot, looking at fish that may be using the west side tributaries (tributaries to the Selkirk Mountains) for spawning sites. The KTOI was able to secure a special one time Congressional Appropriation to help fund a cooperative study of tributary spawning burbot with IDFG as well as other studies regarding burbot culture. With an objective in mind to sample some of the west side tributaries with weirs and traps and hoopnets, the IDFG and KTOI expended many hours in search of burbot in the west side tributaries. These studies could not have been completed without the help of local landowners. Unfortunately, the capture of only one burbot in Boundary Creek confirmed what was previously believed. Burbot numbers are at a seriously low level. The last line of hope for saving this remarkable fish appears to be the efforts of the Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative (KVRI). Local governing agencies and the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho formed KVRI to deal primarily with local environmental issues. It is comprised of local Boundary County governments (city and county), the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, Idaho Fish and Game, US Army Corps of Engineers and other state and Federal agencies. The KVRI is working hard with river managers to develop a Conservation Agreement that will bring about restoration efforts to bring back fishable numbers of burbot in the Kootenai River. A Conservation Agreement can, under specific circumstances, be used to protect a species that could potentially be listed under the Endangered Species Act. Under a Conservation Agreement, there is less federal intervention and more local input. To be effective, a Conservation Agreement must serve to satisfy the same biological and physical needs of a candidate species and there must be adequate funding in place. If a Conservation Agreement were to be implemented, it could be expected that eventually burbot could repopulate the west side tributaries during the winter spawning season. Fans of the Leopards of the Kootenai' are hopeful the efforts of the the KVRI will be successful.