An improved genetic marker panel for conservation monitoring of upper Kootenay River burbot

Burbot populations in the Upper Kootenay watershed, transecting the US-Canada border, are subject to intense monitoring and management after severe declines beginning in the 1970s. Genetic monitoring is a high-priority goal for the East Kootenay Burbot Scientific Working Group, but managers do not currently have a genetic marker panel with enough resolution to understand genetic population structure and family structure in the Upper Kootenay burbot populations. Here, we detail the process of developing and optimizing a cost-effective GTseq panel to aid in the conservation of Upper Kootenay burbot. The final GTseq panel contains 331 markers with sufficient variation to accurately infer population structure and reconstruct pedigrees.