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Species At Risk Topics
Fish
Introduction
Some authorities have likened the
threats to fish diversity in the fresh waters of British Columbia
to the "biodiversity crisis" in the Amazonian rain
forests. A similar crisis is evident for fishes indigenous
to western North America (Deacon et al., 1979), where economic
development (in particular agriculture and sport fishing)
conflicts with protection of lesser known species. Decisions
affecting economic development in river basins are typically
made in the absence of information on the life-forms being
affected, or even concern for aquatic
ecosystems, and few scientists speak out to encourage
public concern for non-economic fishes (A.Peden, 1994).
Please note that when examining
the distribution of fish species in this section, the Okanagan,
Similkameen and Kettle rivers are part of the Columbia system (flow
into the Columbia River), but they are outside the "Columbia
Basin" as defined in this report.
Provincially, 37 species of freshwater
fish are considered at risk and listed on the provincial
RED and BLUE lists. Six of
these are found in the Columbia Basin (Table 1).
Table 1: Freshwater
Fish at Risk of Extinction
in the Columbia Basin
| Species |
Latin
Name |
Global
(G), Provincial (S) Rank |
|
| Umatilla
Dace |
Rhynichthys
umatilla |
G4,S2 |
Red |
| White Sturgeon |
Acipenser
transmontanus |
G4T?Q,S1 |
Red |
| Bull Trout |
Salvelinus
confluentus |
G3,S3 |
Blue |
| Chiselmouth |
Acrocheilus
alutaceus |
G5,S3 |
Blue |
| Mottled Sculpin |
Cottus
Bairdi |
G5,S3 |
Blue |
| Shorthead
Sculpin |
Cottus
confusus |
G5,S3 |
Blue |
Centres of Rarity
Cases of rarity and endangerment
in the Columbia Basin are localized in the Columbia and Kootenay
River systems below dams at Nelson and Castlegar, and in the
Flathead River Basin, with a few occurrences elsewhere. The
map (below) shows the occurrences in the Conservation Data
Centre Database. These are not necessarily the entire current
or historic distributions of the listed species, but rather,
the recently documented occurrences compiled by the CDC. Several
of the species formerly occurred upstream of the dams, which
when build rendered upstream habitat unsuitable or inaccessible.
An example is white sturgeon, which formerly occurred throughout
the Arrow Lakes, and upstream (A photograph of a 2.5 metre
long (8.2 feet), 145 kg (320 lb.) sturgeon caught at Arrowhead
is shown on p. 184 of Silent Shores and Sunken Ships by
M. Parent, 1997; Parent quotes another elder who recalled
having been pulled off the dock at Comaplix after hooking
a 1.2 metre (4 feet) long "squawfish" which must
have been a sturgeon, because squawfish do not grow that large.
The conservation status and biology of each Red-
and Blue-listed species are given
by Beardmore, 1999.
Species At Risk Topics
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