The Effect of reduction of Predaceous Fish on survival of young Sockeye Salmon at Cultus Lake

1941 ◽  
Vol 5b (4) ◽  
pp. 315-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Foerster ◽  
W. E. Ricker

By persistent gill-netting in Cultus lake, British Columbia, the predaceous fish which feed on young sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka) have been considerably, though unevenly, reduced in numbers. The populations of squawfish and char, of lengths greater than 200 millimetres, were reduced in three years to about 1/10 of their original numbers. The abundance of trout and coho salmon have been much less affected by netting, if at all, though a considerable number have been killed. From the first year of control operations the survival rate of young sockeye salmon was considerably increased. In the three years which have been tested, the mean survival rate has been increased three and a third times over average conditions prior to control. In absolute figures, this represents 3,800,000 migrants saved, which are expected to yield 380,000 adult sockeye. Even disregarding the important cumulative future increase, the immediate return from the work is a quantity of sockeye whose value is many times greater than the cost of control work.

1986 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 1643-1655 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. I. Manzer ◽  
I. Miki

The fecundity and egg retention of anadromous female sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) collected during 1971–82 from several stocks in British Columbia undergoing controlled fertilization to enhance adult sockeye production were examined. The relationship between egg number and postorbital–hypural length based on 863 females representing 14 stocks was not consistent between all age-types, stocks, and years, probably because of inadequate sample size in some instances. Combined samples, however, revealed a significant positive relationship between postorbital–hypural length and egg number for age 1.2, 1.3, and 2.2 females. Mean absolute fecundity for the respective age-types was 3218, 4125, and 3544 eggs. For samples of 10 or more females, significant stock and annual differences were detected when individual mean absolute fecundity was adjusted to a postorbital–hypural length of 447 mm, but not for females of different age. A comparison of mean fecundities for coastal stocks with historical data for interior British Columbia stocks suggests that coastal stocks are 18% more fecund than interior stocks. Possible causal mechanisms for this regional difference are hypothesized. Examination of 796 carcasses (representing five stocks) for egg retention revealed a range from totally spawned to totally unspawned females, with 56% of the carcasses containing 20 eggs or less and 68% containing 50 eggs or less. The mean egg retention based on all samples combined was estimated to be 6.5% of the mean individual fecundity. This value was reduced to 3.9% when stock means were averaged.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-28
Author(s):  
Robert Brouwer ◽  
Amanda Ross ◽  
Ian Trepanier ◽  
Ronald W. Tanasichuk

We compared: 1) rearing mortality, 2) size at release (mean length), 3) jack, male and female sizes, and 4) jack, female, and adult returns of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) from three consecutive brood years reared at the Nitinat River hatchery using a conventional or a semi-natural rearing method. The semi-natural method included feeding restrictions, shading of the rearing ponds, lower rearing temperature and rearing densities, exposure to a predator and a volitional release. We found no significant effects of brood year or rearing method on rearing mortality; it was significantly lower during the marking to release phase than during the other two phases (eyed-egg to ponding, ponding to marking). Conventionally reared smolts were significantly longer. Conventionally reared males were longer. As a proportion of number of smolts released, semi-natural rearing produced 86% fewer jacks, the same proportion of females and 15% more adults. Adult production trends, described as marine survival rate (returning adults • smolt-1) for Nitinat River Hatchery coho, and as ln recruits • female spawner-1 for a nearby wild coho population, were similar. Jacking rates were lower in Nitinat River hatchery coho than for the nearby wild coho population. We concluded that the semi-natural rearing methodology produces adult fish more efficiently than the conventional rearing method does, and at 73% of the cost.


1986 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randall M. Peterman ◽  
Michael J. Bradford ◽  
Judith L. Anderson

Commercial fisheries possess the potential for applying strong selection on size or age at maturity in the populations they exploit. It is therefore important to know the extent to which these traits are inherited. We examined regressions of the mean age at maturity of cohorts of offspring on the mean ages of the female and male spawners which produced them for four populations of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) from the Fraser River, British Columbia. Unlike previous researchers, we found that neither genetic nor maternal effects are important, relative to environmental variables, in influencing year-to-year variation in age at maturity in these stocks. The differences between our findings and earlier ones are due to a longer data series and more complete population statistics than were available previously. We further analyzed the age structure of the Adams River population, which has a cyclic pattern of abundance. Fluctuating population density appeared to account for variation in age structure among cycle years in the Adams stock. We concluded that serious concerns about the long-term effects of size-selective fishing on mean age at maturity are probably not warranted for Fraser River sockeye.


1999 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 1046-1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J Pyper ◽  
Randall M Peterman ◽  
Michael F Lapointe ◽  
Carl J Walters

We examined patterns of covariation in age-specific adult body length and in mean age at maturity among 31 sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) stocks from western Alaska to southern British Columbia. Positive covariation in body length was prevalent across stocks of all regions (e.g., correlations (r) from 0.2 to 0.6), suggesting either that growth periods critical to final body length of sockeye salmon occur while ocean distributions of these stocks overlap or that large-scale environmental processes influence these stocks similarly while they do not overlap. We also found stronger covariation among body length of stocks within regions (r from 0.4 to 0.7), indicating that unique regional-scale processes were also important. Mean age at maturity also showed positive covariation both among and within regions, but correlations were weaker than those for length. We also examined patterns of covariation between length and mean age at maturity and between these variables and survival rate. Although length and mean age at maturity were negatively correlated, there was little evidence of covariation between these variables and survival rate, suggesting that environmental processes that influence marine survival rates of sockeye salmon are largely different from those affecting size and age at maturity.


2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (6) ◽  
pp. 834-844 ◽  
Author(s):  
T D Beacham ◽  
B McIntosh ◽  
C MacConnachie

Population structure of sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum, 1792), from coastal lakes in British Columbia was determined from a survey of variation of 14 microsatellite loci, with approximately 6400 sockeye salmon analyzed from 40 populations. Populations from the Queen Charlotte Islands displayed fewer alleles per locus than did populations in other regions. Genetic differentiation among the populations surveyed was observed, with the mean FST for all loci being 0.077 (SD = 0.006). Differentiation among populations was approximately 13 times greater than annual variation within populations. Regional structuring of the populations surveyed was observed. The accuracy and precision of the estimated stock compositions generally increased as the number of observed alleles at the loci increased. Simulated mixed-stock samples generated from observed population frequencies in different regions suggested that variation at microsatellite loci provided reasonably accurate and precise estimates of stock composition for potential samples from marine or freshwater fisheries.


Author(s):  
Emilie Laurin ◽  
Julia Bradshaw ◽  
Laura Hawley ◽  
Ian A. Gardner ◽  
Kyle A Garver ◽  
...  

Proper sample size must be considered when designing infectious-agent prevalence studies for mixed-stock fisheries, because bias and uncertainty complicate interpretation of apparent (test)-prevalence estimates. Sample size varies between stocks, often smaller than expected during wild-salmonid surveys. Our case example of 2010-2016 survey data of Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) from different stocks of origin in British Columbia, Canada, illustrated the effect of sample size on apparent-prevalence interpretation. Molecular testing (viral RNA RT-qPCR) for infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNv) revealed large differences in apparent-prevalence across wild salmon stocks (much higher from Chilko Lake) and sampling location (freshwater or marine), indicating differences in both stock and host life-stage effects. Ten of the 13 marine non-Chilko stock-years with IHNv-positive results had small sample sizes (< 30 samples per stock-year) which, with imperfect diagnostic tests (particularly lower diagnostic sensitivity), could lead to inaccurate apparent-prevalence estimation. When calculating sample size for expected apparent prevalence using different approaches, smaller sample sizes often led to decreased confidence in apparent-prevalence results and decreased power to detect a true difference from a reference value.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishna K. Thakur ◽  
Raphaël Vanderstichel ◽  
Karia Kaukinen ◽  
Omid Nekouei ◽  
Emilie Laurin ◽  
...  

1984 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan P. Farlinger ◽  
Richard J. Beamish

Pacific lamprey (Lampetra tridentata) were first observed in Babine Lake, the largest natural lake wholly contained in British Columbia, in 1963 and are currently found along approximately 15% of the length of the lake near the outlet. The number of spawning adults in 1982 was estimated to be 7281. Since Babine Lake is a major nursery area for sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), the colonization of this lake by a parasitic lamprey is of concern, particularly if the species can become nonanadromous. The colonization may be beneficial if a commercial fishery can be sustained and if the species does not begin to feed in freshwater. The reason for the recent colonization is unknown but it coincides with increased human manipulation of fishes and habitat, including the removal of a major rock slide, 65 km downstream of the lake.


1938 ◽  
Vol 4a (3) ◽  
pp. 151-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Foerster

From three tests each of natural propagation and of artificial propagation involving liberation of free-swimming fry and two tests of artificial propagation involving planting of eyed eggs, it was found that no statistically significant difference occurred between the three methods. Computing the percentage efficiency as the number of seaward migrants produced from the total eggs handled, natural propagation varied from 1.05% to 3.23%—an average of 1.80%; fry liberation from 2.42% to 4.54%—an average of 3.24%; and egg planting from 1.45% to 4.71%—an average of 3.08%. Losses occurring during the five years' stripping and hatchery operations were recorded and, based on total eggs, the hatchery product available for distribution represented from 61.0% to 86.0% for egg planting and from 63.4% to 78.5% for fry liberation. There occurred a lake mortality of approximately 96% of the number of fry liberated. The conclusion was reached that in an area such as Cultus lake, where a natural run of sockeye occurred with a reasonable expectancy of successful spawning, artificial propagation, as commonly practised, provided no advantage over natural spawning, as a means of maintaining the run.


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