intensive studies of white sturgeon in the Kootenai River. Studies in Montana 

 have been limited to setting nets in 1975 and 1976 (May and Huston 1979) and 

 angling, netting and SCUBA diving from 1978 to 1980 (see Appendix D and E and 

 DNRC's Aquatic Environment Study). Applegate (1971) recorded data from sturgeon 

 caught from 1968 to 1971 in the "sturgeon hole" 2.2 miles downstream from 

 Kootenai Falls. All these studies indicate that the sturgeon population in 

 Montana has declined since the completion of Libby Dam. The present population 

 in Montana is estimated to be no more than a very few fish (Graham 1981). DFWP 

 hopes to develop a recovery plan for white sturgeon in Montana, but it is not 

 certain when this might be accomplished. 



The Idaho Department of Fish & Game began a study on white sturgeon in 1979. 

 This study has the following objectives: (1) to determine white sturgeon 

 movement patterns in the Kootenai River, (2) to determine major holding areas 

 for white sturgeon in the Kootenai River, and (3) to assess the present 

 condition of the white sturgeon population in the Kootenai River (Partridge 

 1980b). 



Based on information from holders of sturgeon permits, the 1979 legal 

 harvest of white sturgeon in Idaho was 52, and an additional 341 sturgeon were 

 caught and released (Partridge 1980b). British Columbia biologists began 

 tagging Kootenai River sturgeon in 1977, but population and life history data 

 are still limited. The population of sturgeon in the Kootenai River in British 

 Columbia is roughly estimated at several thousand (Graham 1981). Possible 

 movement of some of these fish into Montana is discussed in a later section. 



j There is no scientific documentation of white sturgeon occurrence in the 



river between Kootenai Falls and Libby Dam either recently or in the past, 

 although there are a few reports of people observing sturgeon upstream from the 



