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.

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.

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.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Long-Term Mark-Recapture Data for Estimating Abundance of Juvenile Fall-Run Chinook Salmon on the Stanislaus River from 1996 to 2017

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler Pilger ◽  
Matthew Peterson ◽  
Dana Lee ◽  
Andrea Fuller ◽  
Doug Demko
Keyword(s):  
Chinook Salmon ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Estimation Method ◽  
Central Valley ◽  
Mark Recapture ◽  
Important Species ◽  
Trap Efficiency ◽  
Monitoring Programs ◽  
Abundance Estimates

Conservation and management of culturally and economically important species rely on monitoring programs to provide accurate and robust estimates of population size. Rotary screw traps (RSTs) are often used to monitor populations of anadromous fish, including fall-run Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in California’s Central Valley. Abundance estimates from RST data depend on estimating a trap's efficiency via mark-recapture releases. Because efficiency estimates are highly variable and influenced by many factors, abundance estimates can be highly uncertain. An additional complication is the multiple accepted methods for how to apply a limited number of trap efficiency estimates, each from discrete time-periods, to a population’s downstream migration, which can span months. Yet, few studies have evaluated these different methods, particularly with long-term monitoring programs. We used 21 years of mark-recapture data and RST catch of juvenile fall-run Chinook Salmon on the Stanislaus River, California, to investigate factors associated with trap efficiency variability across years and mark-recapture releases. We compared annual abundance estimates across five methods that differed in treatment of trap efficiency (stratified versus modeled) and statistical approach (frequentist versus Bayesian) to assess the variability of estimates across methods, and to evaluate whether method affected trends in estimated abundance. Consistent with short-term studies, we observed negative associations between estimated trap efficiency and river discharge as well as fish size. Abundance estimates were robust across all methods, frequently having overlapping confidence intervals. Abundance trends, for the number of increases and decreases from year to year, did not differ across methods. Estimated juvenile abundances were significantly related to adult escapement counts, and the relationship did not depend on estimation method. Understanding the sources of uncertainty related to abundance estimates is necessary to ensure that high-quality estimates are used in life cycle and stock-recruitment modeling.

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.

Stock specific variation in the probability of precocious male maturation in hatchery Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald A Larsen ◽  
Abby E. Fuhrman ◽  
Deborah L. Harstad ◽  
David A Venditti ◽  
Brian R Beckman
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Chinook Salmon ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Common Garden ◽  
Reaction Norm ◽  
Wild Fish ◽  
Natural Origin ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
History Of ◽  
Specific Variation

Age of maturation in many salmonid species is phenotypically plastic and dependent on exceeding a genetically set threshold in growth, often described as a probabilistic maturation reaction norm (PMRN). Hatchery supplementation programs for Chinook salmon in the Pacific Northwest US have been developed to minimize differences between hatchery and wild fish by integrating natural-origin adults into broodstock, potentially affecting PMRNs. We raised fish from 10 Chinook salmon stocks with variable levels of natural-origin integration in a common garden environment to explore potential genetic variation in PMRNs for precocious male maturation as age 2 minijacks. Proportion minijacks varied ≈10-fold (0.043 to 0.443) and the PMRN WP50 (predicted weight at 50% maturation) varied by ≈18 g (24.1 to 41.7g). The propensity for minijack maturation was generally higher in stocks with higher levels of natural origin integration. These findings demonstrate the effect of genotype by environment interactions on life history of salmonids and the need for stock specific tailoring of rearing regimes to regulate differences between hatchery and wild fish, when wild fish are used in broodstocks.

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