Project aims to augment species’ population
MISSOULA – Columbia slimy sculpin are once again swimming in the Bitterroot Valley's Sleeping Child Creek.
This month, a FWP fisheries crew (with assistance from staff, students and volunteers from Salish Kootenai College, Discover Bitterroot National Forest and the University of Montana) moved about 200 Columbia slimy sculpin from the Bitterroot's Skalkaho Creek drainage into the upper reaches of nearby Sleeping Child Creek.
The purpose of the project is to restore native sculpin to a stream where they lived until recently. Warming water temps, especially in the lower creek, and a rockslide that blocked sculpin movement into the upper creek meant these fish recently disappeared from the area.
The fish were netted and moved from one creek to the next in an aerated cooler and eventually carried 4 miles up the trail to their release site.
"This project is a trial to see if translocation of sculpin from a nearest neighbor population is a viable way to establish or augment native sculpin populations in the Bitterroot basin," said FWP fisheries biologist Jason Lindstrom.
The slimy sculpin, found in cold streams west of the Continental Divide in Montana, is listed as imperiled in Montana, which means the population is at high risk. Sculpin are found in fewer places today, likely due to warming stream temperatures.
Many conservation partners are working to enhance native fish diversity in the Bitterroot, one project like this at a time. We're all wishing these sculpin success in their new spot!