Effects of Oceanic Variations and the West Greenland Fishery on Age at Maturity of Icelandic West Coast Stocks of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar)

1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis L. Scarnecchia ◽  
Árni Ísaksson ◽  
S. E. White

Investigations were conducted on the effects of oceanic variations (as measured by sea temperatures) and catches by the West Greenland salmon fishery on the sea age composition of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) stocks from 21 Icelandic west coast rivers. Annual ratios of grilse to two-sea-winter (2SW) salmon were strongly correlated among the 21 rivers. All eight rivers with time series extending back before the expansion of the West Greenland fishery showed lower ratios during the earlier period. Only 2 of the 21 rivers, however, had significantly declining ratios over their time series. In addition, for only one river was West Greenland catch significantly related to the ratios (P < 0.05), and for only one river did ratios increase when the expanded West Greenland fishery was active. Overall, the effects of the fishery on stock composition are evidently minimal. The mean April–May temperature when the smolts were to migrate out of rivers was significantly and positively related to subsequent ratios for five of the rivers, which, along with correlations among the ratios, indicated that more rapid growth of smolts in their first summer may have increased the ratios of grilse to 2SW salmon on several rivers.

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 695-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Luc Baglinière ◽  
Frédéric Marchand ◽  
Vincent Vauclin

Abstract Since 1985, the dynamics of the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) population in the River Oir, a spawning tributary of the River Sélune (Lower Normandy, France), have been studied from a data set of parr density and the number and the age structure of migrating fish (smolts and adults). Parr densities (1.5–17.4 per 100 m2) and smolt production (0.25–9.2 per 100 m2) varied considerably from year to year. Migrating juveniles were mainly 1 year old. Abundance of parr and smolts was strongly correlated with 0+ densities. Egg-to-smolt survival rates were highly variable year on year (0.044–1.07%). During the juvenile freshwater phase, mortality was highest between the egg and the 0+ stage (97.5–99.9%). The fluctuations in abundance of juvenile salmon appear to be linked to the number and distribution of spawners within the stream during spawning, and also to the amount of silt deposition on the spawning beds. As a result, mortality was highest during the under-gravel phase, and the mean survival rate from egg to smolt was much lower than in rivers less impacted by human activities. Therefore, during the study period, the low production of smolts during some years might lead to a low renewal rate of the salmon population.


1991 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 884-893 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eldredge Bermingham ◽  
Stephen H. Forbes ◽  
Kevin Friedland ◽  
Carles Pla

Twenty restriction endonucleases were used to study mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphism in 11 hatchery strains of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) representing geographically separated populations in Europe and North America. The North American salmon mtDNAs studied were readily distinguished, by a minimum of seven restriction site differences, from fish of European origin. These results suggested that restriction analyses of mtDNA might provide a useful method for determining the proportions of European and North American Atlantic salmon caught in the West Greenland fishery. To test this proposition, we analyzed 328 salmon caught in the 1987 West Greenland fishery including 68 fish with coded wire or Carlin tags which provided the geographic source of the tagged salmon. We correctly identified the continent of origin for 67 of the 68 physically tagged salmon using two informative restriction endonucleases. This study provides a clear indication of the usefulness of mtDNA for discriminating between European and North American Atlantic salmon caught in the West Greenland fishery and for mixed-fishery analysis in general.


1971 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 1199-1203
Author(s):  
W. H. Lear ◽  
A. W. May

Twenty Paralepis specimens were taken from the stomachs of 10 Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) caught by drift net at seven fishing stations in the Davis Strait and Labrador Sea. Eleven of the 20 specimens were identified as Paralepis coregonoides borealis Reinhardt on the basis of vertebral counts, and the remainder are tentatively assigned to this species. These are the first records of adult specimens from the Davis Strait, though a few have been recorded from the west coast of Greenland.


2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (9) ◽  
pp. 2311-2321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian R. Bradbury ◽  
Lorraine C. Hamilton ◽  
Timothy F. Sheehan ◽  
Gerald Chaput ◽  
Martha J. Robertson ◽  
...  

Abstract The West Greenland Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) fishery represents the largest remaining mixed-stock fishery for Atlantic Salmon in the Northwest Atlantic and targets multi-sea-winter (MSW) salmon from throughout North America and Europe. We evaluated stock composition of salmon harvested in the waters off West Greenland (n = 5684 individuals) using genetic mixture analysis and individual assignment to inform conservation of North American populations, many of which are failing to meet management targets. Regional contributions to this fishery were estimated using 2169 individuals sampled throughout the fishery between 2011 and 2014. Of these, 22% were identified as European in origin. Major North American contributions were detected from Labrador (∼20%), the Southern Gulf/Cape Breton (29%), and the Gaspe Peninsula (29%). Minor contributions (∼5%) were detected from Newfoundland, Ungava, and Quebec regions. Region-specific catches were extrapolated using estimates of composition and fishery catch logs and harvests ranged from 300 to 600 and 2000 to 3000 individuals for minor and major constituents, respectively. To evaluate the temporal stability of the observed fishery composition, we extended the temporal coverage through the inclusion of previously published data (1995–2006, n = 3095) and data from archived scales (1968–1998, n = 420). Examination of the complete time-series (47 years) suggests relative stability in stock proportions since the late 1980s. Genetic estimates of stock composition were significantly associated with model-based estimates of returning MSW salmon (individual years r = 0.69, and overall mean r = 0.96). This work demonstrates that the analysis of both contemporary and archived samples in a mixed-stock context can disentangle levels of regional exploitation and directly inform assessment and conservation of Atlantic Salmon in the West Greenland interceptory Atlantic Salmon fishery.


2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (7) ◽  
pp. 2139-2148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Minke-Martin ◽  
J. Brian Dempson ◽  
Timothy F. Sheehan ◽  
Michael Power

Abstract Otolith-derived estimates of mean marine temperatures used by West Greenland 1SW Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) of North American origin were determined for fish collected in 2009 and 2010. Otolith material corresponding to the second summer at sea was subsampled, via micro-milling, and analysed by mass spectrometry to produce stable oxygen isotope (δ18O) values from which temperature use estimates were obtained from a salmonid-based fractionation equation. Mean temperature estimates did not differ significantly by period (early vs. late summer), or capture year. The mean and variation estimates were also consistent with temperature use values previously published in the literature or derived from the limited number of data storage tags that have been retrieved for Atlantic salmon, with 80% of all individuals occupying temperatures in the 3.9–9.7°C range. Among-individual differences in temperature use did not correlate with measured otolith growth zone widths. Given the temporal, spatial and methodological variation associated with the derivation of marine temperature use estimates for Atlantic salmon, the data were interpreted to define a range of preferred temperatures within which among-individual differences in growth were driven by the interaction of feeding and temperature use, possibly as a result of the opportunistic feeding behaviour known to predominate among Atlantic salmon.


2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1187-1195 ◽  
Author(s):  
S P Good ◽  
J J Dodson ◽  
M G Meekan ◽  
D AJ Ryan

We investigated the size-selective mortality of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) fry during two consecutive summers that differed markedly in weather conditions. We sampled fry shortly after emergence in June and at the end of August to compare the distributions of back-calculated body size at hatching by examining otolith microstructure. Size-selective mortality was observed in both summers; however, the direction and strength of mortality differed. During the drought conditions of 1995, selective mortality was relatively weak and directed towards the smaller fry in the population. During the flood conditions of 1996, selective mortality was relatively strong and directed towards the larger fry of the same population. Interannual variability in size-selective mortality contributed to significant differences in the mean size of fry at the end of their first summer of life. Size-selective mortality rates estimated from the shifts in fish length at hatching observed during the first summer of life were comparable with published estimates of total mortality of Atlantic salmon fry, indicating that early mortality may be largely size selective. Mortality associated with hydroclimatic events can select against either small or large fish and is a key determinant of mean size attained by the end of the first summer of life.


2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (9) ◽  
pp. 1635-1650 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Bradford Hubley ◽  
A. Jamie F. Gibson

We developed a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate annual mortality of repeat-spawning Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, that distinguishes between mortality rates and the confounding effects of consecutive-year and alternate-year repeat-spawning strategies. The model provides annual estimates of two mortality rates: mortality in the first year (Z1), a time period during which salmon are primarily in freshwater (staging, spawning, and overwintering) followed by a brief period at sea, and mortality in the second year (Z2) when salmon are predominantly at sea. When fit to data for the LaHave River (Nova Scotia, Canada) salmon population, Z1 showed an increasing trend throughout the time series, whereas Z2 also increased but in a single, stepwise manner. Once a time series of mortality rates was separated from the other life-history parameters, we were able to demonstrate how they could be used for examining the influence of environmental conditions by comparing the estimated mortality rate time series with the North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAOI). This comparison uncovered a statistically significant correlation between the NAOI and the survival in the second year after spawning that would not have been evident had the mortality estimation model not been developed.


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