Surface water with more natural temperatures promotes physiological and endocrine changes in landlocked Atlantic salmon smolts

Author(s):  
Amy M. Regish ◽  
William R. Ardren ◽  
Nicholas R. Staats ◽  
Henry Bouchard ◽  
Jonah L. Withers ◽  
...  

Hatchery salmonid smolts are often reared using groundwater with elevated temperatures to maximize growth. Previous work has shown that rearing hatchery smolts in surface water with a more natural thermal regime resulted in increased return rates of adult landlocked Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). We evaluated whether landlocked Atlantic salmon reared in surface water with a natural temperature regime have altered physiological smolt characteristics compared with fish reared in groundwater with elevated winter temperatures. Hatchery fish were sampled three consecutive years from January to May. Additional fish were released as smolts, recaptured, and compared with fry-stocked smolts. Surface water smolts had earlier peaks of plasma T4, lower T3 levels, later peak cortisol, and lower gill Na+/K+-ATPase activity as compared with groundwater smolts. After release and recapture, surface water fish had elevated plasma T4 and gill Na+/K+-ATPase activity compared with groundwater fish, but less than stream-reared fish. Elevated plasma T4 in surface water fish in the hatchery and after release may have promoted imprinting and other aspects of smolt development, contributing to the higher adult return rates of a cohort reared in surface water.

1981 ◽  
Vol 38 (10) ◽  
pp. 1189-1198 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Johnston ◽  
R. L. Saunders

Six different rearing conditions were used to study the effect of temperature on seasonal changes in growth, condition factor, body silvering, body moisture and lipid content, salinity tolerance, and gill Na–K-ATPase activities of laboratory and pond-reared yearling Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Growth during the winter was greatest at the highest rearing temperature (16 °C) whereas those under simulated natural conditions grew slowest. Increasing temperatures in the spring stimulated growth more than constant temperature. Based on increased salinity tolerance, elevated ATPase activity, and growth in salt water, smolt development proceeded at all temperatures up to 16 °C. More smolts were produced in the high thermal regimes resulting in the best growth and the largest proportion of fish reaching smolt size. Unlike some Pacific salmonids, Atlantic salmon develop smolt status at temperatures as high as 16 °C. Yearling smolts can be produced at elevated temperatures and the use of thermal effluents for this purpose is promising.Key words: smoltification, smolt criteria, salinity tolerance, ATPase activity, rearing temperatures, elevated thermal regimes, thermal effluent, Salmo salar


2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 981-990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marylise A. Lefèvre ◽  
Michael J. W. Stokesbury ◽  
Frederick G. Whoriskey ◽  
Michael J. Dadswell

Abstract Lefèvre, M. A., Stokesbury, M. J. W., Whoriskey, F. G., and Dadswell, M. J. 2012. Atlantic salmon post-smolt migration routes in the Gulf of St. Lawrence – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 981–990. The migration of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) post-smolts from the Rivière Saint-Jean on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Canada) was studied during 2009 and 2010. Salmon from rivers in this region spend ≥2 years at sea before returning to spawn, and are believed to migrate to ocean feeding areas off Greenland. To determine residency time in the nearshore environment, and to define the migration routes of post-smolts, tagged post-smolts were tracked passively in Jacques Cartier Strait and at the two exits of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Atlantic Ocean (Cabot Strait and the Strait of Belle Isle). Post-smolts moved rapidly south in the nearshore area; two of them were detected 45 km south of the estuary exit, suggesting that they were moving towards the centre of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. One tagged post-smolt was detected exiting the Gulf of St. Lawrence via the Strait of Belle Isle after 44 d and exhibited a minimum swimming speed of 14.4 km d−1. There was no apparent linkage between the detection patterns of post-smolts and surface water temperatures or surface water currents close to shore. Post-smolts, however, appeared to orient to higher salinity.


Aquaculture ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 45 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 73-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Boeuf ◽  
A. Le Roux ◽  
J.L. Gaignon ◽  
Y. Harache

1983 ◽  
Vol 40 (8) ◽  
pp. 1203-1211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Saunders ◽  
Eugene B. Henderson ◽  
Paul R. Harmon ◽  
C. Edward Johnston ◽  
J. Geoffrey Eales

We reared Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in soft water (hardness 13 mg/L as CaCO3) at two pH levels, 6.4–6.7 and 4.2–4.7, from February to June, to assess the effect of low pH on survival, growth, and the smolting process under rising (4–8.5 °C) or relatively constant (9.5–10.5 °C) temperature. Survival was lower as a result of low pH (4.2–4.7) under both temperature regimes. Neither group exposed to low pH gained weight whereas both control groups gained weight during the experiment. Parr–smolt transformation, as indicated by salinity tolerance and gill Na+, K+ ATPase activity, was impaired as a result of low pH. The large (17–19 cm) parr used in this study were initially salinity tolerant and those at control pH (6.4–6.7) increased tolerance to 35‰ salinity between March and May; those in low pH became intolerant of high salinity. ATPase levels in salmon reared at low pH were significantly lower than those at normal pH levels under both temperature regimes. ATPase activity was significantly greater in fish reared at pH 6.4–6.7 with rising than with constant temperature. Plasma chloride and sodium levels were low in response to low pH, indicating impaired ionic regulation in freshwater. Plasma calcium levels were higher at low pH in both temperature regimes; higher levels were reached under constant temperature. Moisture content rose less sharply under low than under control pH in both temperature regimes. In the rising temperature regime, lipid levels reached similar, low levels under low and control pH conditions. Thyroid hormone (T3 and T4) levels gave no clear indication of effects of low pH on smolting. Smoltification did not proceed normally in our Atlantic salmon subjected to low pH levels.


1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (9) ◽  
pp. 1816-1827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magne Staurnes ◽  
Per Blix ◽  
Ola B. Reite

Smolting Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, were kept from 11 April to 24 May in soft water of pH 5 or in soft water of pH 5 and 50 μg aluminum (Al)∙L−1. Control fish were kept in soft water of pH 6.3–6.5. Water temperature was 8–14 °C. In mid-May, some of the control smolts were transferred to the test conditions for 8 d. Exposure to acid water resulted in osmoregulatory failure and high mortality rate. Al strongly enhanced toxicity. Sensitivity to low pH or low pH/Al exposure greatly increased when fish had developed to seawater tolerant smolts. In control and acid-exposed fish, gill carbonic anhydrase activity remained unchanged throughout the experiment whereas in Al-exposed fish, carbonic anhydrase activity decreased. Gill Na+K+-ATPase activity in control fish peaked in mid-May simulanteously with development of seawater tolerance. Fish from both acid-exposed groups had low seawater tolerance. Na+,K+-ATPase activity declined to 60% of start value in acid-exposed fish and to parr level in Al-exposed fish. Hypoosmoregulatory ability was linearly correlated with gill Na+K+-ATPase activity. Reduction in plasma Na+ concentration in acid-exposed fish was linearly correlated with the reduction in gill Na+,K+-ATPase activity.


2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen D. McCormick ◽  
Timothy F. Sheehan ◽  
Björn Thrandur Björnsson ◽  
Christine Lipsky ◽  
John F. Kocik ◽  
...  

Billions of hatchery salmon smolts are released annually in an attempt to mitigate anthropogenic impacts on freshwater habitats, often with limited success. Mortality of wild and hatchery fish is high during downstream and early ocean migration. To understand changes that occur during migration, we examined physiological and endocrine changes in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) smolts during hatchery rearing, downstream migration, and early ocean entry in two successive years. Gill Na+/K+-ATPase activity increased in the hatchery during spring, increased further after river release, and was slightly lower after recapture in the ocean. Plasma growth hormone levels increased in the hatchery, were higher in the river, and increased further in the ocean. Plasma IGF-I remained relatively constant in the hatchery, increased in the river, then decreased in the ocean. Plasma thyroid hormones were variable in the hatchery, but increased in both river- and ocean-captured smolts. Naturally reared fish had lower condition factor, gill NKA activity, and plasma thyroxine than hatchery fish in the river but were similar in the ocean. This novel data set provides a vital first step in understanding the role and norms of endocrine function in smolts and the metrics of successful marine entry.


Author(s):  
Brian P Morrison ◽  
Kathryn Peiman

Lake Ontario Atlantic Salmon were one of the first species of fish to be cultured in Canada. Their story goes from abundance in the 1700s to protective legislation in 1807, then hatchery culture in 1866 and finally ends in extirpation in 1898. The standard narrative is that Samuel Wilmot’s hatchery efforts briefly staved off their loss from the Lake Ontario basin. However, that story is replete with inaccurate assumptions, unfounded faith in technological solutions, and a belief that numbers of fish released was an accurate measure of success. We challenge the narrative around the perceived benefits of these hatchery efforts and suggest instead that they contributed to the decline of Atlantic Salmon in Lake Ontario through the mining of wild gametes, transferring eggs out of basin, mixing locally-adapted populations across streams, and the negative genetic effects of releasing hatchery fish.


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