Model of Monthly Marine Growth and Natural Mortality for Babine Lake Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)

1986 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 999-1004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald J. Furnell ◽  
J. R. Brett

Monthly marine growth and natural mortality rates were calculated for each major life history type of Babine Lake sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) and compared with estimates by other methods. Growth rates were based on sizes at the beginning and end of each marine year and adjusted according to seasonal changes in environmental temperature. Temperature effects were derived from information on growth responses of cultured fish. Mortality estimates were based on a model which equates mortality rate to an inverse function of weight. Monthly sizes determined from the growth model were substituted into the mortality model, together with estimates of smolt and adult runs (catch plus escapement), to examine the population dynamics of an average Babine Lake smolt cohort. Using these predictions we suggest that 90% of natural mortality occurred during the first 4 mo at sea.

2016 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 1256-1267
Author(s):  
Diego Valderrama ◽  
KathrynAnn H. Fields

Given its ability to yield predictions for very diverse phenomena based only on two parameters—body size and temperature—the Metabolic Theory of Ecology (MTE) has earned a prominent place among ecology’s efficient theories. In a seminal article, the leading proponents of the MTE claimed that the theory was supported by evidence from Pauly’s (On the interrelationships between natural mortality, growth parameters, and mean environmental temperature in 175 fish stocks. Journal Du Conseil International Pour L’Exploration de la mer 39:175–192) dataset on natural mortality, biomass, and environmental temperature for 175 fish stocks spanning tropical, temperate, and polar locations. We demonstrate that the evidence presented by the proponents of the MTE is flawed because it fails to account for the fact that Pauly re-estimated environmental temperatures for polar fish as ‘physiologically effective temperatures’ to correct for their ‘abnormally’ high natural (mass-corrected) mortalities, which on average turned out to be similar to (rather than lower than) the mortalities recorded for temperate fish. Failing to account for these modifications skews the coefficients from MTE regression models and wrongly validates predictions from the theory. It is important to point out these deficiencies given the broad appeal of the MTE as a theoretical framework for applied ecological research. In a recent application, the MTE was used to estimate biomass production rates of prey fish in a model of invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles) predation in Bahamian reefs. We show that the MTE coefficients may lead to a drastic overestimation of prey fish mortality and productivity rates, leading to erroneous estimations of target densities for ecological control of lionfish stocks. A set of robust mortality-weight coefficients is proposed as an alternative to the MTE.


1971 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 1635-1643 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Brett

The growth rate and food conversion efficiency of yearling sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) (26 ± 2 g) was determined for Halver's test diet, Clark's Chinook mash, Abernathy pellets, frozen marine zooplankton, and sockeye mash, using a number of planes of nutrition. The maximum growth rates at 15 C varied from 3.1% dry body wt/day (Halver's) to 1.5%/day (marine zooplankton) with corresponding gross conversion efficiencies of 48 and 10%. Maintenance rations were determined, mostly by extrapolation, and used to evaluate the net conversion efficiency for each diet. The highest was 74% net conversion on Halver's test diet. Although major differences in growth response existed between the five diets, it was concluded that the various moist diets based on fish meal, used in these and earlier experiments, were not significantly different from each other when on the same plane of nutrition.


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

2015 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Freshwater ◽  
M. Trudel ◽  
T. D. Beacham ◽  
C.-E. Neville ◽  
S. Tucker ◽  
...  

1960 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Wood ◽  
D. W. Duncan ◽  
M. Jackson

During the first 250 miles (400 km) of spawning migration of Fraser River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) the free histidine content of the muscle, alimentary tract, and head+skin+bones+tail decreased to a small fraction of the initial value. A further decrease occurred in the levels of this amino acid in the alimentary tract during the subsequent 415-mile (657-km) migration to the spawning grounds, no change being observed with the other tissues. Comparatively small changes in free histidine were found with heart, spleen, liver, kidney and gonads during migration.


1997 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 1608-1612 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Mertz ◽  
R A Myers

The accuracy of the estimation of cohort strength from catch data may be greatly degraded if a poor estimate of the natural mortality rate is entered into the calculation. A straightforward, exact formulation for the error in cohort reconstruction due to a misspecified natural mortality rate is presented. The special case of constant fishing mortality is particularly transparent, allowing the error to be segmented into easily interpreted terms. A change in the fishing mortality may result in a distinct hump in the transient behavior of the bias factor, rather than a simple monotonic adjustment. This implies a similar pattern in estimated cohort strength.


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