Staff at a fish hatchery in B.C.B次元官网网址檚 East Kootenay are no longer having to fend off otters that were attacking and eating their fish, now that the animals have been relocated.

Last June, the Kootenay Trout Hatchery in in the Fort Steele area, outside of Cranbrook, reported that a group of pesky otters had devoured about 150 of the prized fish and attacked many others in the hatcheryB次元官网网址檚 moat.

Manager Owen Schoenberger said three otters were trapped and relocated outside of the Kootenay watershed by conservation officers, after staff tried and failed to block some of the access to the moat and even installed barrier panels.

B次元官网网址淲e kept the injured fish in the back pond; they had some wounds and some scars,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲e treated them with a special bath which was successful and we returned them to the moat. The fish are doing quite well now, and weB次元官网网址檙e well stocked especially after putting in extra yearlings.B次元官网网址�

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The otters havenB次元官网网址檛 been spotted at the hatchery since, Schoenberger said.

The facility has about 30 to 40 15-pound rainbow trout at present, as well as several hundred one- to two-pound rainbow trout. ItB次元官网网址檚 run by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC, which owns and operates hatcheries in Duncan, Abbotsford, Summerland, Clearwater, Fort Steele and Vanderhoof.

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corey.bullock@cranbrooktownsman.com
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