scholarly journals Effects of hatchery supplementation on abundance and productivity of natural-origin Chinook salmon: two decades of evaluation and implications for conservation programs

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
pp. 1495-1510 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Venditti ◽  
Ryan N. Kinzer ◽  
Kimberly A. Apperson ◽  
Bruce Barnett ◽  
Matthew Belnap ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chinook Salmon ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Conservation Programs ◽  
Natural Origin ◽  
Juvenile Abundance ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
Hatchery Supplementation ◽  
Apparent Influence

Hatchery supplementation has been developed to conserve salmonid populations and provide fisheries. We evaluated supplemented and reference Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) populations prior to, during, and after supplementation ceased for 22 years in two major drainages in Idaho, USA. Basin-level analyses showed supplementation increased abundance at some life stages, but effects did not persist into the postsupplementation phase and had no apparent influence on productivity. Natural-origin juvenile abundance increased during supplementation but results for adults were ambiguous. After supplementation ceased, abundance and productivity in supplemented and reference populations returned to their presupplementation relationships. Intensive analyses of supplemented populations with weirs showed abundance increased at some life stages with the addition of female spawners. However, the rate of increase varied with female origin (natural > supplementation ≥ nontreatment hatchery), and effects diminished through the life cycle. Based on these findings, we provide guidance for conservation programs. Supplementation alone is not a panacea because it does not correct limiting factors, which must be addressed to achieve population levels capable of sustaining ecological function and harvest.

scholarly journals Parentage-based tagging improves escapement estimates for ESA-listed adult Chinook Salmon and Steelhead in the Snake River basin

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John S Hargrove ◽  
Carlos A Camacho ◽  
William C. Schrader ◽  
John H Powell ◽  
Thomas A Delomas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Endangered Species ◽  
Confidence Intervals ◽  
Chinook Salmon ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Endangered Species Act ◽  
Natural Origin ◽  
Abundance Estimates ◽  
Physical Form ◽  
Genetic Tagging ◽  
Hatchery Supplementation

Parentage-based tagging (PBT) is a non-lethal, genetic tagging method that has been successfully applied in hatchery supplemented populations to manage hatchery broodstock and monitor hatchery harvest and straying rates. We show that PBT can also improve the accuracy of escapement estimates by significantly reducing the number of hatchery-origin fish falsely classified as natural-origin. Unlike conventional abundance estimates, which use physical marks and tags to distinguish hatchery individuals from their wild counterparts, PBT identifies origin independent of physical form. We applied PBT to populations of Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Steelhead (O. mykiss) which are classified as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and subject to extensive hatchery supplementation efforts. For spawn years 2014-2018, 16,511 adipose-intact Chinook Salmon and 21,953 adipose-intact Steelhead were sampled, and PBT identified 19.6% of returning Chinook Salmon and 8.3% of Steelhead were of hatchery-origin, despite having no physical or mechanical marks. The 90% confidence intervals for escapement estimates of natural-origin Chinook Salmon and Steelhead made with and without corrections using PBT were non-overlapping for nine of ten comparisons indicating that failing to account for unmarked, untagged hatchery-origin fish would result in a significant overestimation of natural abundance.

Within-river straying: sex and size influence recovery location of hatchery Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda M.M. Pollock ◽  
Maryam Kamran ◽  
Andrew H. Dittman ◽  
Marc A. Johnson ◽  
David L.G. Noakes
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Chinook Salmon ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Classification Tree ◽  
River System ◽  
Classification Tree Analysis ◽  
Spawning Grounds ◽  
Natural Origin ◽  
Elk River ◽  
In The Wild

Salmon straying is often defined as the failure of adults to return to their natal river system. However, straying within a river basin can be problematic if hatchery salmon do not return to their hatchery of origin and subsequently spawn in the wild with natural-origin salmon. We examined within-river straying patterns from 34 years of coded-wire tag data, representing 29 941 hatchery fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Elk River, Oregon, USA. Using classification tree analysis, we found that females and larger salmon were more likely to be recovered on the spawning grounds than males and smaller fish. Females larger than 980 mm had a 51.6% likelihood of recovery on the spawning grounds rather than at the Elk River Hatchery. Our findings raise questions about the behavior of straying adults and implications for management of these stocks, with a focus on methods to reduce within-river straying. We recommend further studies to determine whether carcass recoveries are fully representative of hatchery salmon that stray within the Elk River basin.

In a warming river, natural-origin Chinook salmon spawn later but hatchery-origin conspecifics do not

2021 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-77
Author(s):  
Catherine S. Austin ◽  
Timothy E. Essington ◽  
Thomas P. Quinn
Keyword(s):  
Chinook Salmon ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
River System ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Human Intervention ◽  
Timing Of Reproduction ◽  
Natural Origin ◽  
Skagit River

Median timing of reproduction in salmonid populations is generally consistent among years, reflecting long-term patterns of natural selection from characteristics of the local environment. However, altered selection from factors related to climate change or human intervention might shift timing over generations, with implications for the population’s persistence. To study these processes, we modeled median timing of redd (nest) counts as an index of spawning timing by natural-origin Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Skagit River system in Washington State, USA. Over the last 2–6 decades, natural-origin salmon have been spawning later by 0.03–0.52 days·year–1, while a naturally spawning group that is influenced by strays from a hatchery has been spawning earlier by 0.19 days·year–1. Trends in the spawning timing of hatchery-origin strays may reflect opposing selection from the hatchery, where egg take for propagation has become earlier by 0.58 days·year–1. As mean August river temperatures have risen over the period of record, hatchery timing trends may be moving in the opposite direction from the plastic or adaptive patterns expressed by natural-origin fish.

Factors influencing the relative fitness of hatchery and wild spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Wenatchee River, Washington, USA

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (11) ◽  
pp. 1840-1851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin S. Williamson ◽  
Andrew R. Murdoch ◽  
Todd N. Pearsons ◽  
Eric J. Ward ◽  
Michael J. Ford
Keyword(s):  
Chinook Salmon ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Parentage Analysis ◽  
Wild Fish ◽  
Relative Fitness ◽  
Male Fitness ◽  
Natural Origin ◽  
Hatchery Fish ◽  
Management And Conservation ◽  
Older Males

Understanding the relative fitness of naturally spawning hatchery fish compared with wild fish has become an important issue in the management and conservation of salmonids. We used a DNA-based parentage analysis to measure the relative reproductive success of hatchery- and natural-origin spring Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) in the natural environment. Size and age had a large influence on male fitness, with larger and older males producing more offspring than smaller or younger individuals. Size had a significant effect on female fitness, but the effect was smaller than on male fitness. For both sexes, run time had a smaller but still significant effect on fitness, with earlier returning fish favored. Spawning location within the river had a significant effect on fitness for both sexes. Hatchery-origin fish produced about half the juvenile progeny per parent when spawning naturally than did natural-origin fish. Hatchery fish tended to be younger and return to lower areas of the watershed than wild fish, which explained some of their lower fitness.

Changes in life history parameters in a naturally spawning population of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) associated with releases of hatchery-reared fish

1997 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 1235-1245 ◽  
Author(s):  
M J Unwin ◽  
G J Glova
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Chinook Salmon ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Fork Length ◽  
Age At Maturity ◽  
Natural Origin ◽  
Parent Stock ◽  
Stream Type

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) spawning runs in Glenariffe Stream, New Zealand, exhibited significant changes in life history traits following supplementation releases of hatchery-reared juveniles. Total run strength did not change but the proportion of naturally produced fish declined to 34%. Attempts to separate spawners of natural and hatchery origin were unsuccessful, and 31-48% of natural spawners are now of hatchery origin. Hatchery males were smaller at age 2 and 3 than males of natural origin, and more often matured as jacks, producing an 86-mm decrease in mean fork length over 28 years. There was no change in length at age or age at maturity for female spawners. The proportion of jacks entering Glenariffe Stream each year was positively correlated with the proportion of jacks in the ensuing cohort. Most differences between fish of natural and hatchery origin were related to hatchery rearing practices, but the decline in age at maturity among naturally produced males appears to reflect traits inherited from parent stock of hatchery origin. Hatchery releases may also favour the survival of ocean-type fry over stream-type fry, possibly reversing a tendency for stream-type behaviour to evolve in response to the lack of estuaries on most New Zealand chinook salmon rivers.

scholarly journals Decoupling outmigration from marine survival indicates outsized influence of streamflow on cohort success for California’s Chinook salmon populations

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (8) ◽  
pp. 1398-1410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cyril J. Michel
Keyword(s):  
Chinook Salmon ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Cohort Size ◽  
Seaward Migration ◽  
Productivity Indices ◽  
Marine Survival ◽  
Marine Productivity

Historically, marine survival estimates for salmon have been confounded with freshwater seaward migration (outmigration) survival. Telemetry studies have revealed low and variable survival during outmigration, suggesting marine mortality may not be the primary source of variability in cohort size as previously believed. Using a novel combination of tagging technologies, survival during these two life stages was decoupled over 5 years for Sacramento River Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Outmigration survival ranged from 2.6% to 17%, and marine survival ranged from 4.2% to 22.8%. Influential environmental drivers in both life stages were also compared with smolt-to-adult ratios (SAR) for three Chinook salmon populations over 20 years. Streamflow during outmigration had higher correlation with SAR (r2 > 0.34) than two marine productivity indices (r2 < 0.08). The few SAR estimates that were poorly predicted by flow occurred during years with the lowest marine productivity, suggesting most interannual SAR fluctuations are explained by outmigration survival, but abnormally poor marine conditions also reduce SAR. The outsized influence of flow on SAR provides managers with a powerful mitigation tool in a watershed where flow is tightly regulated.

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