The primary goals of the Northern Pike Suppression and Monitoring Project are to suppress Northern Pike Esox lucius in the Lake Roosevelt watershed, reduce impacts to native fauna and prevent the species from expanding into other waterbodies.  Northern Pike are native to the mid-western United States, parts of Alaska, and the Saskatchewan River drainage in Montana.  Northern Pike are a highly invasive fish species that have been shown to significantly reduce prey fish densities.  They have the potential to cause large-scale changes in fish communities, even resulting in species elimination.  Northern Pike pose significant threats to the Columbia River ecosystem through predation on native species including some listed on the Endangered Species Act (ESA), introductions of new parasites and disease, and competition with other species for food resources.

Northern Pike are a threat to the fish community in Lake Roosevelt.  The lake supports native Redband Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, kokanee O. nerka, Burbot Lota lota, White Sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus, and other native minnows and suckers.  The establishment of Northern Pike in Lake Roosevelt may reduce the abundance and viability of these species and pose a threat to the mitigation Rainbow Trout fishery.  The co-managers of Lake Roosevelt, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (CCT), Spokane Tribe of Indians (STI) and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) have been collaborating since 2015 to secure funds and implement the Northern Pike Suppression and Monitoring Plan (Plan) that was finalized in 2017 (McLellan et al. 2017).  Since that time, each co-manager has worked independently to secure funds from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and other partners in the region.  Co-managers have also allocated internal resources to implement their portions of the Plan.

Since 2015, the co-managers have worked together to remove approximately 20,000 Northern Pike from Lake Roosevelt using mechanical removal techniques (gillnets, seine nets, fyke nets, boat electrofishing) and the $10/pike Reward Program.  In addition, the group uses spring and fall annual monitoring surveys, eDNA, and otolith microchemistry to monitor abundance and distribution changes over time (McLellan et al. 2019).  The suppression strategies account for 80% of the budget and are the primary focus of the intended work.