North America’s largest fish sliding toward extinction as feds scramble for fix

Feds scramble to save North America’s largest fish

BIL LINGS, Mont. — As efforts to save North America’s largest freshwater fish falter along the Kootenai River, federal officials said they hope to stave off extinction by sending more water hurtling down the river to get the species to spawn in the wild.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday issued a report saying attempts over the past two years to save the endangered Kootenai white sturgeon had failed.

The prehistoric fish, which can reach 19 feet long, is isolated to a stretch of the Kootenai as it passes through Montana, northern Idaho and southern British Columbia. Fewer than 500 of the bottom-feeding behemoths survive, and it’s been 35 years since they successfully spawned.

The problem is Libby Dam, a hydroelectric facility in Montana run by the Army Corps of Engineers that serves power markets in the Pacific Northwest. When the dam went up in 1974, it stopped periodic flooding of Bonners Ferry, Idaho — but also high water flows that had triggered the sturgeon to move upriver and spawn.

After years of litigation, the federal government agreed to alter how it runs the dam and more closely mimic historical water flows. That hasn’t worked, and fisheries officials and the Corps now say they plan to spill more water over the dam next spring.

It could be one of the last chances to stave off disaster for the massive fish: Biologists say it is on track for extinction within the 10 to 15 years unless a fix is found.

Even with the increased spillover from the dam, the Kootenai River would rise to less than half its historical levels.

“We’re still kind of tinkering around at the bottom end of what historically used to occur,” said Jason Flory, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “But the spring flows that were pre-Libby Dam were what flooded Bonners Ferry. You just don’t do that, you don’t flood towns.”