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

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.

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1830) ◽  
pp. 20200214 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. M. Twardek ◽  
A. Ekström ◽  
E. J. Eliason ◽  
R. J. Lennox ◽  
E. Tuononen ◽  
...  

During spawning, adult Pacific salmonids ( Oncorhynchus spp . ) complete challenging upriver migrations during which energy and oxygen delivery must be partitioned into activities such as locomotion, maturation and spawning behaviours under the constraints of an individual's cardiac capacity. To advance our understanding of cardiac function in free-swimming fishes, we implanted migrating adult Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) collected near the mouth of the Sydenham River, Ontario, with heart rate ( f H ) biologgers that recorded f H every 3 min until these semelparous fish expired on spawning grounds several days later. Fundamental aspects of cardiac function were quantified, including resting, routine and maximum f H , as well as scope for f H (maximum−resting f H ). Predictors of f H were explored using generalized least-squares regression, including water temperature, discharge, fish size and fish origin (wild versus hatchery). Heart rate was positively correlated with water temperature, which aligned closely with daily and seasonal shifts. Wild fish had slower resting heart rates than hatchery fish, which led to significantly higher scope for f H . Our findings suggest that wild salmon may have better cardiac capacity during migration than hatchery fish, potentially promoting migration success in wild fish. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Measuring physiology in free-living animals (Part I)’.


Author(s):  
Donald A Larsen ◽  
Abby E. Fuhrman ◽  
Deborah L. Harstad ◽  
David A Venditti ◽  
Brian R Beckman

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.


1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 759-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kira Salonius ◽  
George K. Iwama

Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and chinook salmon (0. tshawytscha) from aquaculture and wild environments were subjected to handling (30–60 s of netting and aerial emersion) and disease challenges. Plasma cortisol concentrations ([cortisol]pl) in both coho and chinook salmon from wild environments were significantly elevated 4 h after handling. Colonized coho salmon (hatchery-reared fish, transported into a natural water body as fry) responded in a similar fashion to wild fish, while those reared entirely in the hatchery showed no significant rise in [cortisol]pl. The responses to handling stress were retained in wild and colonized coho salmon after 7 mo of hatchery rearing. A transient increase in the leukocyte to red blood cell ratio in both wild and hatchery-reared chinook salmon occurred 4 h after handling. Handling signficantly decreased the antibody-producing cell (APC) number in wild fish and elevated their [cortisol]plrelative to hatchery fish. Wild fish had the highest APC number among the three groups before the handling. No difference in resistance to Vibrio anguillarum was apparent in coho and chinook salmon among the different rearing environments, although chinook salmon were generally more susceptible; disease resistance was reduced in wild coho salmon after 7 mo of rearing in a hatchery.


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

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-77
Author(s):  
Catherine S. Austin ◽  
Timothy E. Essington ◽  
Thomas P. Quinn

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.


1997 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 1246-1254 ◽  
Author(s):  
M J Unwin

Fry-to-adult survival rates for chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) from Glenariffe Stream, a tributary of the Rakaia River, New Zealand, were estimated for fish of both natural and hatchery origin. Survival of naturally produced fry, most of which leave Glenariffe Stream within 24 h of emergence, averaged 0.079% (range 0.013-1.17%). For hatchery fish released at 8-12 months, standardised to a mean weight of 38 g, survival covaried with weight at release consistently across all brood years and averaged 0.34% (range 0.008-3.28%). Survival rates for hatchery fish were four times higher than for naturally produced fry, but were extremely poor relative to their size at release. Survival rates for fish of natural and hatchery origin were positively correlated, suggesting that recruitment of both stocks is primarily controlled by common influences within the marine environment, probably during the first winter at sea. Stock-recruitment analysis for the natural population showed little tendency for recruitment to increase with stock size, suggesting that marine survival rates may be density dependent. Although the reasons for the relatively poor survival of hatchery fish are unclear, the results provide a case study in which hatchery fish appear to have a poorer ``fitness to survive'' than their natural counterparts.


1986 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 1386-1397 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. D. Levings ◽  
C. D. McAllister ◽  
B. D. Chang

From March 1982 to December 1983, juvenile chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) were sampled by beach-seine in the Campbell River estuary and adjacent waters of Discovery Passage in order to examine estuarine use by wild and hatchery stocks. Wild juvenile chinook entered the estuary as migrant fry and were present in the estuarine zone mainly in late April to June, in the transition zone in mid-May to July, and in the marine zone in July. Hatchery fish were released from early May to early July. Maximum catches of wild stocks were similar in the estuarine and transition zones, while the maximum catches of most hatchery stocks were higher in the transition zone. For both wild and hatchery chinook, catches in the marine zone were much lower than in the estuarine and transition zones. Wild fry resided in the estuary for 40–60 d, while most hatchery fish used the estuary for about one-half this period. Wild stocks showed a relatively constant rate of increase in mean size from May to September. Higher rates of increase in the mean size of hatchery fish were shown by groups with earlier release dates and smaller mean sizes. Residency time and growth rates for wild fish were comparable with those observed in an estuary without hatchery fish. Potential for interaction between wild and hatchery stocks was greatest in the transition zone, where hatchery fish were most abundant and because hatchery releases occurred when catches of wild fish were highest in this foreshore area.


1997 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 1235-1245 ◽  
Author(s):  
M J Unwin ◽  
G J Glova

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.


2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (12) ◽  
pp. 1683-1692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Barnett-Johnson ◽  
Churchill B Grimes ◽  
Chantell F Royer ◽  
Christopher J Donohoe

Quantifying the contribution of wild (naturally spawned) and hatchery Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) to the mixed-stock ocean fishery is critical to understanding their relative importance to the persistence of salmon stocks. The inability to distinguish hatchery and wild salmon has inhibited the detection of declines or recoveries for many wild populations. By using Chinook salmon of known hatchery and wild origin, we established a baseline for separating these two sources using otolith microstructure. Otoliths of wild salmon contained a distinct exogenous feeding check likely reflecting an abrupt transition in food resources from maternal yolk not experienced by fish reared in hatcheries. Daily growth increments in otoliths from hatchery salmon immediately after the onset of exogenous feeding were wider and more uniform in width than those in wild fish. The discriminant function that we used to distinguish individuals reared in hatcheries or in the wild was robust between years (1999 and 2002), life history stages (juveniles and adults), and geographic regions (California, British Columbia, and Alaska) and classified fish with ~91% accuracy. Results from our mixed-stock model estimated that the contribution of wild fish was 10% ± 6%, indicating hatchery supplementation may be playing a larger role in supporting the central California coastal fishery than previously assumed.


1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 648-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. J. Ashton ◽  
D. O. Farkvam ◽  
B. E. March

The fatty acid profiles of lipids extracted from eggs and alevins of cultured chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) were significantly different than those from eggs and alevins of wild fish of the same stock. The mean total concentrations of n3 fatty acids in the total lipid of eggs from wild and cultured broodstock were 40.2 and 29.4% and in the polar lipid 45.5 and 38.7% respectively. The mean concentrations of n3 fatty acids in the total lipid of alevins from wild and cultured broodstock were 35.4% and 23.2% and in the polar lipid 43.0 and 38.2%, respectively. The ratios of n3:n6 fatty acids were lower in both the neutral and polar lipids of eggs and of alevins from the cultured fish than in those of wild fish. The higher n3:n6 fatty acid ratios in the eggs and progeny of wild fish reflected the higher ratios in lipids of components of the natural marine food chain.


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