Seasonal Changes in Habitat Use by Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in Oregon Coastal Streams

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 783-789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Nickelson ◽  
Jeffrey D. Rodgers ◽  
Steven L. Johnson ◽  
Mario F. Solazzi

Habitat use by juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) during spring, summer, and winter was examined in Oregon coastal streams. Coho salmon fry were most abundant in backwater pools during spring. During summer, juvenile coho salmon were more abundant in pools of all types than they were in glides or riffles. During winter, juvenile coho salmon were most abundant in alcoves and beaver ponds. Because of the apparent strong preference for alcove and beaver pond habitat during winter and the rarity of that habitat in coastal streams, we concluded that if spawning escapement is adequate, the production of wild coho salmon smolts in most coho salmon spawning streams on the Oregon Coast is probably limited by the availability of adequate winter habitat.


1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (9) ◽  
pp. 1551-1557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. McMahon ◽  
Gordon F. Hartman

Winter habitat use by juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) varied with cover type and flow level in outdoor stream channels. Cover utilization and the number of fish remaining in stream channels increased significantly as cover complexity increased. Most fish emigrated during a simulated freshet unless the most complex cover (low velocity, shade, and wood debris combined) was available. At both high and low flows, emigration occurred primarily during the rapid decline in light levels at twilight. Most coho formed aggregations beneath cover, exhibiting feeding and aggression at temperatures as low as 2.5 °C. We conclude that (1) social interactions, in concert with habitat features, influence the abundance of coho salmon within specific stream habitats in winter, and (2) structural complexity of wood debris is an important consideration for management practices designed to protect or enhance winter habitat for this species.



1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 790-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Nickelson ◽  
Mario F. Solazzi ◽  
Steven L. Johnson ◽  
Jeffrey D. Rodgers

We examined the use of constructed pools by juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) during summer and winter. Log, gabion, and rock structures placed across the full stream width provided good summer habitat but poor winter habitat for juvenile coho salmon. Rearing densities in constructed habitats during summer and winter were generally similar to those in natural habitats of the same type, except that constructed dammed pools supported lower densities during winter than natural dammed pools. The addition of brush bundles to pools created by full-stream-width structures increased the density of juvenile coho salmon in dammed pools during winter, but not in plunge pools. We concluded that the development of off-channel habitat has the greatest potential to increase production of wild coho salmon smolts in Oregon coastal streams.



1981 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis L. Scarnecchia

To investigate the dependence of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) yield on streamflow and oceanic upwelling, I regressed catch by the Oregon commercial troll fishery from 1942 to 1962 against indices of offshore upwelling the previous spring and measurements of streamflow from five Oregon coastal rivers during the freshwater rearing phase. A highly significant positive relation was found between total streamflows during the freshwater residency of the fish for the five rivers combined and the weight of the annual catch of coho salmon from 1942 to 1962. There was also a significant positive relation between total combined annual (January–December) flows for these rivers and the catch 2 yr later. Conversely, I found no significant relation between the 60 consecutive days of lowest flow during summer and catch 2 yr later. High flows during freshwater rearing probably provide more habitat and better conditions for growth and survival. I also found a significant positive relation between April through June upwelling at two stations and catch of coho salmon the following year from 1947 to 1962. Fifty-six percent of the variation in catch from 1947 to 1962 was explained by the total flows during freshwater residency, 60 consecutive days of lowest flow, plus combined April through June upwelling at both stations. It is suggested that some stocks of coho salmon smolts may move southward or remain in local offshore waters after they enter the ocean to take advantage of the production of invertebrates resulting from upwelling.Key words: streamflow, upwelling, coho salmon, Oregon coast



1983 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 452-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Tschaplinski ◽  
G. F. Hartman

Numbers of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in streams are reduced substantially in winter compared to those that occur in summer. Most of this reduction occurs early in autumn with the onset of the first seasonal freshets. Stream sections containing adequate winter habitat in the form of deep pools, log jams, and undercut banks with tree roots and debris lost fewer fish during freshets and maintained higher numbers of coho in winter than sections without these habitat characteristics. These features provide shelter and reduce stream velocities. Microhabitats occupied by coho juveniles in winter after logging were unchanged from those described before logging — all microhabitats were characterized by low water velocities (≤ 0.3 m/s). Up to 48% of the coho population inhabiting stream sections with adequate shelter remained there by midwinter (Jan. 3). This percentage was typical of stream sections where at least some trees remained after logging. Streamside trees stabilized the banks and prevented their collapse. In contrast, two of three study sections that had been clear-cut logged had unstable banks which collapsed during winter freshets. Almost no coho remained in these sections in winter. Many coho emigrate from the main stream to seek the shelter of low-velocity tributaries and valley sloughs concurrent with the decline of coho populations in Carnation Creek during autumn and early winter. This seasonal shift in distribution reverses in the spring when large numbers of coho reenter the main stream. Fish overwintering in these sites have a high apparent survival rate. Before logging a 4-yr mean of 169 ± 44 coho entered one tributary (a slough called 750-m site) in autumn. Of these numbers entering, 72.2% came out in spring. During and after logging, an annual mean of 288 coho entered the same site. The apparent survival rate during and after logging was 67.4%, essentially unchanged from the prelogging value. Logging has neither reduced the numbers of coho juveniles that enter such sites in autumn to overwinter, nor reduced the numbers leaving these sites to reenter Carnation Creek in spring.



2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 1016-1032 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Rupp ◽  
Thomas C. Wainwright ◽  
Peter W. Lawson

Better fisheries management is often given as one justification for research on improving forecasts of fish survival. However, the value gained from expected improvements in forecast skill in terms of achieving management goals is rarely quantified as part of research objectives. Using Monte Carlo simulations of population dynamics, we assessed the effect of forecast skill under two strategies for managing Oregon coast natural (OCN) coho salmon ( Oncorhynchus kisutch ). The first, or status quo, strategy is currently being used to rebuild threatened OCN coho populations. This strategy determines harvest based on both a forecasted marine survival rate and parental spawner abundance. The second strategy relies on a forecast of preharvest adult abundance to achieve a constant spawner escapement target. Performance of the status quo strategy was largely insensitive to forecast skill, while the second strategy showed sensitivity that varied with escapement target and specific performance metric. The results imply that effort towards improving forecasts is not justifiable solely on the basis of improved management under the status quo strategy, though it may be were the management strategy altered.



2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 1920-1935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gretchen R Oosterhout ◽  
Charles W Huntington ◽  
Thomas E Nickelson ◽  
Peter W Lawson

This study developed a stochastic life cycle model to simulate idealized supplementation strategies to investigate the following question: under what circumstances could hatchery fish stocking contribute to the recovery of Oregon coast coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)? Simulations were used to find a solution space, defined by the attributes of wild and hatchery-bred salmon, their offspring, and their environments, where hatchery fish could supplement natural production without further depressing it until natural or human factors restricting production were relieved. These simulations suggest that short-duration, tightly controlled, low-intensity conservation hatchery programs designed to minimize genetic and ecological risks may yield minor short-term increases in adult coho salmon abundance while posing significant ecological and genetic risks. No solution space was found that indicated clear long-term benefits from such a supplementation program. Of all the management actions modeled, habitat restoration offered by far the largest and only permanent gains in coho salmon abundance while posing no genetic or ecological risk to the fish. The modeled benefits of habitat restoration were significant regardless of assumptions made about the fitness of hatchery fish and their offspring.



1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (10) ◽  
pp. 2401-2407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia A. Paszkowski ◽  
Bori L. Olla

The behavior of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) smolts was examined under laboratory conditions to determine if the hierarchical–territorial social system characteristic of this species in freshwater persisted in seawater. When held in groups of two to eight fish, hatchery-reared, accelerated underyearling smolts formed hierarchies controlled by a single dominant who was responsible for most of the observed movement, chases, and feeding. Agonistic behavior also occurred within pairs of recently smolted fingerlings from two hatchery stocks with different rearing histories and in groups containing free-ranging fish captured off the Oregon coast. Possible relationships between the observed social behavior and marine distribution patterns of juvenile coho salmon are discussed.



1985 ◽  
Vol 42 (12) ◽  
pp. 2020-2028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric B. Taylor ◽  
J. D. McPhail

Ten populations of juvenile coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, from streams tributary to the upper Fraser River, the lower Fraser River, and the Strait of Georgia region were morphologically compared. Juveniles from coastal streams (Fraser River below Hell's Gate and the Strait of Georgia) were more robust (deeper bodies and caudal peduncles, shorter heads, and larger median fins) than interior Juveniles. Discriminant function analysis indicated that juvenile coho could be identified as to river of origin with 71% accuracy. Juvenile coho from coastal streams were less successfully classified as to stream of origin; however, juveniles could be successfully identified as either coastal or interior with 93% accuracy. Juvenile coho from north coastal British Columbia, Alaska, and the upper Columbia system also fitted this coastal and interior grouping. This suggests that a coastwide coastal–interior dichotomy in juvenile body form exists. Three populations (one interior and two coastal) were studied in more detail. In these populations the coastal versus interior morphology was consistent over successive years, and was also displayed in individuals reared from eggs in the laboratory. Adult coho salmon also showed some of the coastal–interior morphological differences exhibited by juveniles. We concluded that the morphological differences between coastal and interior coho salmon are at least partially inherited.



1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (8) ◽  
pp. 1397-1407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Bilby ◽  
Peter A. Bisson

Downstream movement of coho salmon fry (Oncorhynchus kisutch) stocked in old-growth and clear-cut watersheds occurred in three phases: (1) a brief period of heavy emigration immediately after stocking, (2) relatively little movement throughout most of the summer, and (3) intermittent heavy emigration during early autumn freshets. Coho emigrated whenever a streamflow change ≥ 3%∙d−1 occurred, but movement nearly ceased at flows above a certain level. Temperature changes were less important than discharge in triggering movement. When high densities were stocked, emigrant fry were smaller than residents. When low densities were stocked, emigration after the initial pulse of downstream movement was generally lower and there were no size differences between emigrants and residents. Production in the clear-cut was greater than in the old-growth watershed. Proportionately fewer fish emigrated from the old-growth stream, but when population densities were high, mortality in the old-growth exceeded the clear-cut. Greater emigration from the clear-cut site was possibly related to a scarcity of pools. Although the old-growth stream possessed better rearing habitat, less food may have been available, as suggested by gross photosynthesis rates 50% lower than in the clear-cut stream. Coho production therefore appeared to be most strongly influenced by trophic conditions, while volitional residency was most strongly influenced by habitat quality.



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