scholarly journals The Effectiveness of Semi-Natural Rearing of Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) at the Nitinat River Hatchery, British Columbia

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 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Quinn ◽  
Graeme M. Tolson

To test the hypothesis that population-specific pheromones guide adult salmonids to their natal streams, juvenile and adult coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) were tested for chemosensory responses in two-choice tanks. Coho salmon from Quinsam and Big Qualicum rivers, British Columbia, Canada, distinguished their own population from the other. Tagging evidence indicates that straying between these two rivers and a third, geographically intermediate river seldom occurs. Thus, population-specific chemicals constitute a potential source of information for homing coho salmon, though their role vis-à-vis imprinted odors from other sources could not be evaluated.


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.


2017 ◽  
Vol 130 (4) ◽  
pp. 336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric A Parkinson ◽  
Chris J Perrin ◽  
Daniel Ramos-Espinoza ◽  
Eric B Taylor

The Coho Salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, is one of seven species of Pacific salmon and trout native to northeastern Pacific Ocean watersheds. The species is typically anadromous; adults reproduce in fresh water where juveniles reside for 1–2 years before seaward migration after which the majority of growth occurs in the ocean before maturation at 2–4 years old when adults return to fresh water to spawn. Here, we report maturation of Coho Salmon in two freshwater lakes on the north coast of British Columbia apparently without their being to sea. A total of 15 mature fish (11 males and four females) were collected in two lakes across two years. The mature fish were all at least 29 cm in total length and ranged in age from three to five years old. The occurrence of Coho Salmon that have matured in fresh water without first going to sea is exceedingly rare in their natural range, especially for females. Such mature Coho Salmon may represent residual and distinct breeding populations from those in adjacent streams. Alternatively, they may result from the ephemeral restriction in the opportunity to migrate seaward owing to low water levels in the spring when Coho Salmon typically migrate to sea after 1–2 years in fresh water. Regardless of their origin, the ability to mature in fresh water without seaward migration may represent important adaptive life history plasticity in response to variable environments.


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.


1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 1038-1040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Kabata ◽  
D. J. Whitaker ◽  
J. W. Bagshaw

An unusual case of infection of coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch (Walbaum), in British Columbia, Canada, with a myxosporean Kudoa thyrsitis (Gilchrist) is described. This first report of Kudoa parasitizing a member of the genus Oncorhynchus is interesting also because of the unusual site of Kudoa in the fish, the cardiac muscle.


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.


1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (7) ◽  
pp. 960-966 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Margolis ◽  
F. Moravec ◽  
T. E. McDonald

A new nematode species, Rhabdochona kisutchi sp. nov., is described from the intestine and pyloric caeca of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) smolts from streams of British Columbia, Canada. It differs from all hitherto known members of the genus, except R. sulaki Saidov, 1953, in having eggs provided with polar caps. It can be distinguished from R. sulaki by the shape, origin, and infrequent occurrence of polar filaments; the position of the vulva; and the length of the esophagus and female tail.


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