Swimming Thrust of Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in Relation to Selectivity of Gillnets

1969 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1383-1385 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. Lander

A significant relationship between girth at the mesh mark and fork length indicates that long sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) have more swimming thrust than short ones. This tends to confirm a speculation of Regier and Robson (J. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada 23: 423–454, 1966). Preliminary conjecture relates the observation to the theory of mesh selectivity.


1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 633-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Heifetz ◽  
Scott W. Johnson ◽  
K V. Koski ◽  
Michael L. Murphy

Migration timing, size, and salinity tolerance were determined for sea-type sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), which migrate to sea as underyearlings (age-0), in the Situk River estuary, Southeast Alaska. Ten sites in three habitat types were seined monthly from Sate April through August, 1987, and age-0 sockeye from the estuary were tested for salinity tolerance. Age-0 sockeye were most abundant (up to 13∙m−2) from late April through June, and by late July, most sockeye had left the estuary. Mean fork length (FL) was 31 mm in April and increased 0.4 mm∙d−1 to 70 mm in late July when most (72%) remaining sockeye had grown to about the same size as age-1 smolts (69–95 mm) emigrating in May and June. Mean FL of age-0 sockeye in the estuary in July was 23 mm greater than in freshwater areas of the river. Salinity tolerance was directly related to fish size, and a size of at least 50 mm was required for 100% survival in seawater. Because salinity in the estuary ranged 0–30‰, sockeye of all sizes could survive in the estuary. Thus, in 3–4 mo, sea-type sockeye attained a size large enough to adapt to seawater and migrate to sea.



1977 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Kabata ◽  
B. Cousens

The distribution of the parasitic copepod, Salmincola californiensis, on two size-groups (fry, fork length 3.2–5.8 cm; juveniles, fork length 10.2–27.0) of the sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka, is described. The existence of preferred sites for both groups is established. The distribution on the smaller fish differs from that on the larger in that on the former the copepods are most abundant in the region of pectoral and pelvic fins, whereas on the latter they are by far most common in the branchial cavity. Macroscopic and microscopic mechanical damage to the fish tissues, resulting from the presence and activity of the copepod, comprises injuries to gills, skin, muscle, and even bone. The "burrowing phenomenon" (failure on the part of the copepod to cease excavation of a completed cavity of implantation, resulting in perforation of body wall and penetration of the viscera) is reported upon for the first time.



1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
pp. 1674-1681 ◽  
Author(s):  
M G Meekan ◽  
DAJ Ryan ◽  
J J Dodson ◽  
S P Good

There is conflicting evidence on the role of size-selective mortality in the demography of populations of young sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). A previous field study suggested that increases in mean fork length and otolith size at emergence observed in a cohort of salmon between fry and smolt stages were due to size-selective mortality, such that fry with small fork lengths underwent higher mortality than larger individuals. However, a subsequent study used a simulation to show that such increases could not have been achieved by size-selective mortality without levels of survivorship of the cohort far lower than those that had been observed in the field. To account for field observations, the simulation study proposed that individuals with high metabolic rates had better survivorship, a process that was termed "selection for growth potential." Here, we use a simulation approach to show that size-selective mortality may result in shifts in mean fork length and otolith size at emergence comparable with those observed in the field at total mortalities within the range of estimates of natural values. The contrasting outcomes of earlier simulation work and the present study are probably due to the assumption by the former that otolith and fish size in young salmon were weakly correlated and the use of an inappropriate model of size-selective mortality. We conclude that size-selective mortality can explain the results of previous field studies and that little empirical evidence exists to support the hypothesis of selection for growth potential in cohorts of young salmon.



1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 712-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron J. West ◽  
P. A. Larkin

Otolith – body length relations and back-calculation procedures were used to test the hypothesis that mortality of juvenile sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in Babine Lake, British Columbia, is size selective. Samples of the 1978 brood of sockeye were collected as fry from spawning tributaries as juveniles in the main basin, and as smolts at the outlet. Total otolith length was chosen as the most useful otolith dimension for back-calculation of fork length at emergence. Sockeye from the various tributaries show different fork length – otolith length relationships necessitating a weighting procedure for comparisons involving samples of mixed stocks from the lake. Instantaneous daily growth rate and In fork length during the early lake-rearing period were significantly correlated. Smaller juveniles grew more slowly than larger individuals in mid-july, and a hierarchy of sizes was maintained. The distributions of total otolith length at emergence for fry, surviving juveniles, and smolts indicate selective mortality of fish with smaller otoliths, hence of small size at emergence. Survivals from the lower and upper halves of the initial total otolith length distribution were 8.9 and 63.6%, respectively. Comparable estimates for back-calculated fork lengths at emergence were 27.2 and 43.4%. Size-selective mortality is most intense in the late summer and early autumn, and may be associated with predation and parasitism.



2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Hruska ◽  
Scott G. Hinch ◽  
David A. Patterson ◽  
Michael C. Healey

Some female Pacific salmon ( Oncorhynchus spp.) arrive at spawning grounds but fail to complete spawning prior to death. One hypothesis regarding egg retention is that some individuals do not have sufficient time on spawning grounds for successful completion of spawning. We investigated this hypothesis by quantifying the relationships among arrival timing, reproductive longevity, and egg retention in female sockeye salmon ( Oncorhynchus nerka ) from Weaver Creek Spawning Channel (British Columbia, Canada) in 2006. 250 females were tagged over three sampling periods and followed until death. Earlier-arriving females lived longer than later-arriving females (p < 0.001), but patterns of egg retention were not different across sampling dates (p > 0.40). Complete spawners tended to establish a redd sooner after arrival than incomplete spawners (p = 0.001); there was no relationship between spawning completion and reproductive maturity or fork length (p > 0.30). Consistent with the time limitation hypothesis, females retained a lower proportion of eggs with increasing reproductive longevity. Several long-lived females (>7 days) failed to spawn completely before death, indicating that time limitation was not a factor for spawning success in all females. Further research examining the role of individual-specific behavioural physiology on egg retention in sockeye salmon is needed.



1991 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 988-994 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Henderson ◽  
A. J. Cass

Three approaches were used to test the hypothesis that smolt-to-adult survival is independent of smolt size for Chilko Lake sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). The mean distance between the focus of the scale and the first annulus, a reliable indicator of smolt size, was greater for adult scales than for smolt scales from the same brood year in two of the three years we examined. This indicated a higher smolt-to-adult survival for larger smolts in these brood years. The abundance of smolts of different fork lengths, based on back-calculation procedures from adult scales, was compared with the abundance of smolts of different fork lengths at the time of outmigration within brood years. In all three years studied, there was a two- to threefold increase in smolt-to-adult survival as smolt length increased. However, there was no significant relationship between smolt-to-adult survival and mean annual smolt fork length based on a 34-yr time series; this lack of relationship was probably caused by limited variation in mean annual smolt fork length over the 34-yr period and other variables, independent of smolt size, that affect survival and exhibit considerable interannual variation.



Author(s):  
Thomas P. Quinn ◽  
George R. Pess ◽  
Ben J.G. Sutherland ◽  
Samuel J. Brenkman ◽  
Ruth E. Withler ◽  
...  


1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (9) ◽  
pp. 1551-1561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy S. Collie ◽  
Carl J. Walters

Despite evidence of depensatory interactions among year-classes of Adams River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), the best management policy is one of equal escapement for all year-classes. We fit alternative models (Ricker model and Larkin model) to 32 yr of stock–recruitment data and checked, using simulation tests, that the significant interaction terms in the Larkin model are not caused by biases in estimating the parameters. We identified a parameter set (Rationalizer model) for which the status quo cyclic escapement policy is optimal, but this set fits the observed data very poorly. Thus it is quite unlikely that the Rationalizer model is correct or that the status quo escapement policy is optimal. Using the fitted stock–recruitment parameters, we simulated the sockeye population under several management policies. The escapement policy optimal under the Ricker model is best overall because of the high yields if it should be correct. If the three stock–recruitment models are equally likely to be correct, the simulations predict that adopting a constant-escapement policy would increase long-term yield 30% over the current policy and that an additional 15% increase in yield could be obtained if the policy were actively adaptive.



2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Godwin ◽  
L. M. Dill ◽  
M. Krkošek ◽  
M. H. H. Price ◽  
J. D. Reynolds


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