Fauna
There are seven species of fish in Kootenay Lake: Rainbow Trout (Gerrard), Bull Trout, Burbot, Mountain Whitefish, White Sturgeon, Brook Trout, Largemouth Bass, Yellow Perch and Kokanee Salmon.
There was a large decrease in the numbers of Kokanee in the west arm of the lake in the late 1970s. The salmon fishery was closed in 1980 and remains closed as of 2011. The reason for the decline is not known; possibilities include reduced numbers of Mysis relicta (which had been introduced as a food source for the Kokanee in 1949) into the west arm due to the increased control of water levels, the disruption of rearing habitat due to recurring drawdown of the lake, reduced productivity of benthos due to the reduction of the amount of nutrients into the lake (after the close of the fertilizer plant), overfishing in the 1960s to 1970s or competition between the Mysis relicta and immature fish. In 1990 the lake's southern Kokanee stocks neared extinction, and an experimental fertilizing program was started, with some success.
Read more about this topic: Kootenay Lake
Famous quotes containing the word fauna:
“The whole fauna of human fantasies, their marine vegetation, drifts and luxuriates in the dimly lit zones of human activity, as though plaiting thick tresses of darkness. Here, too, appear the lighthouses of the mind, with their outward resemblance to less pure symbols. The gateway to mystery swings open at the touch of human weakness and we have entered the realms of darkness. One false step, one slurred syllable together reveal a man’s thoughts.”
—Louis Aragon (1897–1982)