Removing bull trout will improve chances for dwindling Kootenay kokanee: B.C.

NELSON, B.C. – Some trout that prey on the dwindling supply of kokanee in British Columbia’s Kootenay Lake will soon be removed.

The provincial government says the bull trout population more than doubled between 2015 and 2017 and poses a threat to kokanee.

Spawning kokanee in Kootenay lake historically range from between 250,000 to 2.2 million annually, but last year that number declined to just 18,000.

The government says the reduction is caused by high predator abundance of bull trout and Gerrard rainbow trout.

In conjunction with removing some bull trout from Duncan River this summer, the government plans to stock another five to seven million kokanee eggs this fall.

The government says “modest removals” of the predator will help all the fish in the long term and that captured trout will be frozen and provided to local food banks.