About 1,000 juvenile white sturgeon were released into the Kootenay River on May 6, including about 300 in a public event at the former West Creston ferry landing; the others were released by schoolchildren in the morning.
The annual release, co-ordinated by the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program has been going on since 1999, with a goal of helping to repopulate the endangered species. Out of every 1,000 released, 280 will survive two years, 220 will survive five and 190 will survive eight. After 12 years, about 180 are still alive.