Status, Distribution, and Conservation of Native Freshwater Fishes of Western North America

ABSTRACT The Lewis and Clark expedition crossed the Continental Divide in 1805 on the way west to the Pacific Ocean. Based on journal entries, members of the expedition probably encountered two species of resident salmonids and four of the six species of anadromous salmonids and steelhead (Family Salmonidae, genus <em>Oncorhynchus</em>). The salmonid species were called common salmon (now known as Chinook salmon <em>O. tshawytscha</em>), red charr (sockeye salmon <em>O. nerka</em>), white salmon trout (coho salmon [also known as silver salmon] <em>O. kisutch</em>), salmon trout (steelhead <em>O. mykiss</em>), and spotted trout (cutthroat trout <em>O. clarkii</em>). There was no evidence of the expedition encountering pink salmon <em>O. gorbuscha</em>, chum salmon <em>O. keta</em>, or species of true char <em>Salvelinus</em> spp. Common fishes procured from Indian tribes living along the lower Columbia River included eulachon <em>Thaleichthys pacificus</em> and white sturgeon <em>Acipenser transmontanus</em>. The identity of three additional resident freshwater species is questionable. Available descriptions suggest that what they called mullet were largescale sucker <em>Catostomus macrocheilus</em>, and that chubb were peamouth <em>Mylocheilus caurinus</em>. The third questionable fish, which they called bottlenose, was probably mountain whitefish <em>Prosopium williamsoni</em>, although there is no evidence that the species was observed in the Columbia River drainage. Missing from the species list were more than 20 other fishes known to Sahaptin-speaking people from the mid-Columbia region. More complete documentation of the icthyofauna of the Pacific Northwest region did not occur until the latter half of the 19th century. However, journals from the Lewis and Clark expedition provide the first documentation of Columbia River fishes.

Fishes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Kyle D. Martens ◽  
Jason Dunham

When multiple species of fish coexist there are a host of potential ways through which they may interact, yet there is often a strong focus on studies of single species without considering these interactions. For example, many studies of forestry–stream interactions in the Pacific Northwest have focused solely on the most prevalent species: Coastal cutthroat trout. To examine the potential for interactions of other fishes with coastal cutthroat trout, we conducted an analysis of 281 sites in low order streams located on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula and along the central Oregon coast. Coastal cutthroat trout and juvenile coho salmon were the most commonly found salmonid species within these streams and exhibited positive associations with each other for both presence and density. Steelhead were negatively associated with the presence of coastal cutthroat trout as well as with coho salmon and sculpins (Cottidae). Coastal cutthroat trout most frequently shared streams with juvenile coho salmon. For densities of these co-occurring species, associations between these two species were relatively weak compared to the strong influences of physical stream conditions (size and gradient), suggesting that physical conditions may have more of an influence on density than species interactions. Collectively, our analysis, along with a review of findings from prior field and laboratory studies, suggests that the net effect of interactions between coastal cutthroat trout and coho salmon do not appear to inhibit their presence or densities in small streams along the Pacific Northwest.


1962 ◽  
Vol 40 (7) ◽  
pp. 919-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Tsuyuki ◽  
E. Roberts ◽  
R. E. A. Gadd

The muscle myogens and other components of the spring salmon (O. tshawytscha), chum salmon (O. keta), coho salmon (O. kisutch), and sockeye salmon (O. nerka), as well as the lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus), were separated by the use of diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) cellulose columns. Significant amounts of slowly dialyzable inosine and inosinic acid which may lead to spurious peaks in moving-boundary electrophoretic separations have been shown to be present in the muscle myogen preparations. The basic differences in the muscle myogen components of the Pacific salmon and the lingcod are compared.


2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 1122-1130 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Irvine ◽  
Masa-aki Fukuwaka

Abstract Irvine, J. R., and Fukuwaka, M. 2011. Pacific salmon abundance trends and climate change. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 1122–1130. Understanding reasons for historical patterns in salmon abundance could help anticipate future climate-related changes. Recent salmon abundance in the northern North Pacific Ocean, as indexed by commercial catches, has been among the highest on record, with no indication of decline; the 2009 catch was the highest to date. Although the North Pacific Ocean continues to produce large quantities of Pacific salmon, temporal abundance patterns vary among species and areas. Currently, pink and chum salmon are very abundant overall and Chinook and coho salmon are less abundant than they were previously, whereas sockeye salmon abundance varies among areas. Analyses confirm climate-related shifts in abundance, associated with reported ecosystem regime shifts in approximately 1947, 1977, and 1989. We found little evidence to support a major shift after 1989. From 1990, generally favourable climate-related marine conditions in the western North Pacific Ocean, as well as expanding hatchery operations and improving hatchery technologies, are increasing abundances of chum and pink salmon. In the eastern North Pacific Ocean, climate-related changes are apparently playing a role in increasing chum and pink salmon abundances and declining numbers of coho and Chinook salmon.


2000 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 1252-1257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolanda Morbey

Protandry, the earlier arrival of males to the spawning grounds than females, has been reported in several studies of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.). However, the reasons for protandry in salmon are poorly understood and little is known about how protandry varies among and within populations. In this study, protandry was quantified in a total of 105 years using gender-specific timing data from seven populations (one for pink salmon (O. gorbuscha), three for coho salmon (O. kisutch), two for sockeye salmon (O. nerka), and one for chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha)). Using a novel statistical procedure, protandry was found to be significant in 90% of the years and in all populations. Protandry may be part of the males' strategy to maximize mating opportunities and may facilitate mate choice by females.


1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 480-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Meehan ◽  
Logan A. Norris ◽  
Howard S. Sears

To determine acute toxicity to juvenile (1) pink, chum, coho, and sockeye salmon, (2) Dolly Varden char, and (3) rainbow trout, 2,4-D acid, butyl and isooctyl esters were tested in southeast Alaska. A comparable test was made in Oregon using coho salmon fingerlings. The mean percent mortality after 96 h and the highest concentration of herbicide that did not produce any mortality were determined for each formulation tested.At less than 50 ppm 2,4-D acid produced no mortality except in pink salmon fry. The butyl ester was most toxic causing nearly complete mortality in all species at concentrations > 1.0 ppm and the isooctyl ester least toxic of the ester formulations. Alaskan and Oregon coho fingerlings were similar in their responses to 2,4-D acid, butyl and isooctyl esters. The toxicities of three different formulations of isooctyl ester, a PGBE ester, and butyl ester to Alaskan coho fingerlings were also determined. There were few or no differences in toxicity among isooctyl ester formulations. The butyl and PGBE esters were similar in toxicity.


1955 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 451-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Milne

The general history of the Skeena River commercial salmon fishery is presented from 1877 to 1948. The changes in fishing areas, seasons and fishing methods are described, together with the trends in the catches obtained. The most accurate data pertain to the important sockeye salmon gill-net fishery. The sockeye catch attained a maximum of 187,000 cases in 1910 and since then has declined to a minimum of 28,000 cases in 1933 and 1943. In recent years the catches have tended to level off. The pink salmon catches declined markedly after 1930. The chum catches also appear to have declined in recent years. Whether or not the spring and coho salmon catches have declined is not known. The size of the sockeye catch appears to be the best available measure of the relative size of the population. An analysis of the age cycles in the catch of sockeye and pink salmon did not reveal a practical basis for prediction. Some possible changes in the fishing regulations are discussed and the need for more data on the fluctuations in the size of the stocks during the fresh water phase is stressed.


1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 266-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. B. Murray ◽  
J. D. McPhail

Embryo and alevin survival, time to hatching and emergence, and alevin and fry size of five species of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus) were observed at five incubation temperatures (2, 5, 8, 11, and 14 °C). No pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) or chum (O. keta) salmon embryos survived to hatching at 2 °C. Coho (O. kisutch) and sockeye (O. nerka) salmon had higher embryo survival at 2 °C than chinook (O. tschawytscha) salmon. At 14 °C, chum, pink, and chinook salmon had higher embryo survival than coho or sockeye salmon. In all species, peaks of embryo mortality occurred at specific developmental stages (completion of epiboly, eye pigmentation, and hatching). Alevin survival to emergence was high for all species, except for coho and pink salmon at 14 °C. Hatching and emergence time varied inversely with incubation temperature, but coho salmon hatched and emerged sooner at all temperatures than the other species. Coho and sockeye salmon alevins were larger at 2 °C, pink, chum, and chinook salmon alevins were larger at 5 and 8 °C. Coho salmon fry were larger at 2 °C, chinook and chum salmon fry were larger at 5 °C, and sockeye and pink salmon fry were larger at 8 °C. High incubation temperatures reduced fry size in all species. Each species of Pacific salmon appears to be adapted to different spawning times and temperatures, and thus indirectly to specific incubation temperatures, to ensure maximum survival and size and to maintain emergence at the most favorable time each year.


1972 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 699-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. L. Hartman ◽  
R. L. Burgner

Many important, recently glaciated oligotrophic lakes that lie in coastal regions around the northern rim of the Pacific Ocean produce anadromous populations of sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka. This paper describes the limnology and fish ecology of two such lakes in British Columbia, five in Alaska, and one in Kamchatka. Then we discuss the following general topics: the biogenic eutrophication of nursery lakes from the nutrients released from salmon carcasses wherein during years of highest numbers of spawners, lake phosphate balances in Lakes Babine, Iliamna, and Dalnee are significantly affected; the use of nursery lakes by young sockeye that reveals five patterns related to size and configuration of lake basins and the distribution of spawning areas; the interactions between various life history stages of sockeye salmon and such resident predators, competitors, and prey as Arctic char, lake trout, Dolly Varden, cutthroat trout, lake whitefish, pygmy whitefish, pond smelt, sticklebacks, and sculpins; the self-regulation of sockeye salmon abundance in these nursery lakes as controlled by density-dependent processes; the interrelations between young sockeye salmon biomass and growth rates, and zooplankton abundance in Babine Lake; and finally, the diel, vertical, pelagial migratory behavior of young sockeye in Babine Lake and the new hypothesis dealing with bioenergetic conservation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 200 (2) ◽  
pp. 270-291
Author(s):  
E. A. Shevlyakov ◽  
S. V. Shubkin

Aerial survey of the pacific salmon spawning grounds was conducted in the water bodies of Chukotka belonged to the Bering Sea basin (the Anadyr, Velikaya, Tumanskaya Rivers and Meinypilgyno lake-river system) in 2019, for the first time since 1992. Total flight time was 35 hours, approximate length of the transects was 3,800 km. Number of the spawners was estimated as 660.7 . 103 ind. for chum salmon, 112.2 . 103 ind. for sockeye salmon, and 3678.0 . 103 ind. for pink salmon, features of their distribution are described.


Parasitology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 138 (8) ◽  
pp. 969-977 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEPHEN D. ATKINSON ◽  
SIMON R. M. JONES ◽  
ROBERT D. ADLARD ◽  
JERRI L. BARTHOLOMEW

SUMMARYParvicapsula minibicornis is a myxozoan parasite implicated in mortalities of both juvenile and pre-spawning adult salmon in the Pacific Northwest of North America. Disease severity and presentation varies between salmon species and geographical localities. To better characterize population structure of the parasite, we sought genetic markers in the P. minibicornis ribosomal RNA gene. We compared samples from California with the type specimen from British Columbia, identified sequence variations, and then sequenced 197 samples from fish, river water and the parasite's polychaete worm host. Although DNA sequences of the parasite were >98·9% similar, there was enough variation to define 15 genotypes. All genotypes were detected in fish samples, although not in all species. A single genotype only was found in sockeye and pink salmon in the Fraser River Basin, but was not detected in sockeye from the adjacent Columbia River Basin. All coho salmon, irrespective of river basin, were infected with a unique mix of 2 genotypes. These data indicated that the P. minibicornis population exhibited strong signals of structuring by both geography and salmonid host species. Particular genotypes may correlate with disease differences seen in salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest.


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