Estimation of Sea Mortality Rates for the 1960 Brood-Year Pink Salmon of Hook Nose Creek, British Columbia

1964 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1019-1034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert R. Parker

Seaward migrating pink salmon fry at Hook Nose Creek, British Columbia, were estimated to total 1,153,000 in 1961. Of these, 41.5% or 479,000, were marked by amputation of both ventral fins (BV). Following this marking 36,900 fingerling were captured in the marine environment and marked by removal of the adipose and right ventral fins (ARV). During the 1962 fishing season 1,160,645 adult pinks were examined and 7050 BV and 184 ARV marks recognized. For the Hook Nose Creek stock, survival at sea from natural causes is shown to approximate 22% and the rate of exploitation was 95%. This stock is shown to be more exposed to fishing than the Bella Coola stock, for which a rate of exploitation of 69–80% is estimated. Rate of exploitation for Dean Channel stocks is even lower. These differences are explained as due to times of entry and rates of travel through the fishery. The two-stage marking experiment failed to estimate the natural mortality rate of juvenile pinks during the initial 5 weeks of sea life because of this dissimilarity between rates of exploitation on the stocks in the area.

1965 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1523-1554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert R. Parker

A two-stage marking experiment was designed to estimate natural mortality rates of pink salmon during their early (coastal) and later (oceanic) periods of sea life. Difficulty was encountered because of disproportionate representation of various stocks in the marked populations, the stocks being subject to dissimilar rates of exploitation. Several assumptions were made for which the error introduced could not be fully evaluated. Under these assumptions, the results indicate (approximate values) that 55.7 million fry, resulting from the 1961 Burke Channel–Bella Coola stocks brood year, entered the sea. Of these, 77% died during the initial 40-day period of life in the enclosed marine waters. The following stage, from the time of seaward migration to adult return, a period of about 410 days, 78% of the remaining population died. The adult return was subjected to a rate of exploitation of 0.85 which produced a catch of 2.5 million fish. The spawning escapement was approximately 450,000 fish. It is established that the rate of natural mortality during the initial short period was much more severe than that during the remaining period of sea life.


1968 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 757-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert R. Parker

The hypothesis that natural mortality rates of pink salmon during early life are generally much larger than during the later period has been tested for 3 brood-years of the Bella Coola River stock using a two-stage marking technique. Average daily losses to the population during the first 40 days are estimated to vary between 2 and 4%, and for the later 410-day period between 0.4 and 0.8%. These rates produce losses amounting to between 59 and 77% of the initial population during the first 40 days. Of the population surviving at 40 days, further losses of between 78 and 95% occurred. The latter losses are considered to be maximum estimates because of bias introduced by catches of unknown magnitude. Thus, although the early mortality is exceeded by the later, the time period is approximately 10 times as long, and the intensity of the mortality rate is much higher during early sea life.


1967 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 2321-2338 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Healey

During May and June 1966, the migration of pink salmon fry from the Bella Coola River was studied in Burke Channel, British Columbia. The movement of pink fry down Burke Channel was saltatory. Short periods of active migration were interspersed with longer periods when the fry did not migrate and accumulated in bays. Fry were sampled from these accumulations and their ability to orient using celestial cues was examined. During the early morning, fry tended to prefer directions at right angles to their direction of migration, but at other times of the day preferred the direction of migration. The preference for the direction of migration was strongest at midday. Fry were better oriented on clear days than on cloudy days. These data indicate that fry may use celestial cues to find directions during their oceanic migrations.


2000 ◽  
Vol 57 (11) ◽  
pp. 2258-2266 ◽  
Author(s):  
R W Tanasichuk

I used data for over 665 000 Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) seined or gillnetted in southern British Columbia between 1951 and 1998 to estimate age- and year-specific adult natural mortality rates. Apparent sampling bias precluded using data collected before 1980. The instantaneous natural mortality rate is an increasing exponential function of age. Surplus energy requirements for gonad recrudescence appear to cause the death of adult herring.


1981 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Guy J. Godin

Stomach analyses showed that pink salmon fry fed mainly during daylight hours in the littoral zone of Departure Bay and Hammond Bay, British Columbia, in May. Although the diurnal feeding patterns of the fish differed slightly between the two bays, maximum mean prey biomass in the fishes' stomachs occurred near or at dusk in both bays. Daily rations consumed by Departure Bay and Hammond Bay fish were estimated to be 13.1 and 6.6% of their dry body weight, respectively. The fry consumed similar prey items in both bays, but in differing proportions. Harpacticoid copepods, copepod nauplii, and barnacle larvae comprised numerically 93.1 and 86.2% of the diets of Departure Bay and Hammond Bay fish, respectively. About 38% of the diet of Departure Bay fish and 51% of the diet of Hammond Bay fish comprised epibenthic prey, mainly harpacticoid copepods. The data provide additional support for the importance of the detritus-microbe-consumer type food chain supporting the production of pink salmon during their early period of marine residency.Key words: pink salmon, feeding behavior, daily rhythm, diet, ration, British Columbia


1962 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 561-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert R. Parker

A conceptual model representing natural marine mortality rates of Pacific salmon is developed. Ocean mortality rate (q) is taken as the base to which coastal mortality rates of juveniles (c) and of adults (k) are additive factors. The effect of marking is taken as a multiplicative factor (m) of the instantaneous rate (i) where i = q + c + k. Together with time these values are incorporated into the balanced equation[Formula: see text]where N0 denotes the population entering the sea and R1, R2, R3 denote the returns at succeeding times of maturity. The locus of c + k = f(q) is used to graphically depict all possible combinations of c + k and q within the limits [q, c + k = 0]. Intersections of loci are taken as estimates of values of q and c + k which satisfy two sets of data. Available data for sockeye salmon (O. nerka) from Cultus Lake, Chilko Lake and Hooknose Creek, British Columbia, Karluk River and Bare Lake, Alaska, and Dalnee River, Kamchatka, pink salmon (O. gorbuscha) and chum salmon (O. keta) from Hooknose Creek, chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) from the coast of Southeast Alaska and coho (O. kisutch) from the Eel River, California, are utilized. It is concluded that ocean mortality is relatively constant, of the order of magnitude q = 0. 32 or S = 73% annually. A juvenile coastal mortality factor (c) apparently exists and is characteristic of the species and race through the media of size of migrants, time spent in the costal area, and geography. An adult coastal factor (k) may exist but is of negligible influence on the total mortality rate. While the data utilized collectively may be considered as extensive, serious defects in sampling errors and undefined variability were encountered. It is doubted that mortality rates can be more accurately defined from any repetition of experiments used, hence a more direct approach is indicated for solution of this problem.


2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond J.H. Beverton ◽  
Arvid Hylen ◽  
Ole-Johan Østvedt ◽  
John Alvsvaag ◽  
Terence C. Iles

Abstract In 1907, the Bergen Institute of Marine Research started regular sampling of scales and lengths from landings of mature Norwegian spring-spawning herring. The actual age of each fish when caught was recorded, and from the early 1920s also the age at which it spawned for the first time. The present analyses concern biological samples secured during the fishing seasons 1940–1964. Herring in this stock do not all reach maturity at the same age. A small proportion of any one year class matures at 3 years. The majority matures from the age of 4–7 years, and a small proportion of some year classes at 8 and even 9 years of age. Subsequent age composition and growth of each maturation cohort were followed throughout mature life after spawning for the first time. The maximum age was found to increase with age at maturation, rising to an asymptote of about 22 years. The von Bertalanffy parameter L∞ shows an increasing trend with age at maturation, while K decreases. There is no strict length threshold at maturation and the curve joining the length at which each maturation cohort reaches maturity is less steep than the growth curve itself over the range of maturation ages. The data suggest that fish in this stock spawn, on average, eight times during a period of their life history in which the mortality rate is independent of age. After these eight spawnings, at an age referred to in this paper as the hinge age, the mortality rate increases sharply. Thus, the adult life is divided into two phases, called here pre-senescent and senescent. The total mortality rates in the pre-senescent phase are relatively stable for all maturation cohorts 3–9, but there is some evidence of a trend towards higher mortality rates during the senescent phase for the youngest maturing fish. This trend is caused mainly by a reduced natural mortality in the fish that mature when older. These findings have interesting demographic implications. Additional mortality due to fishing will change the relative contribution of young and old maturation cohorts in the senescent phase, thus making it appear that natural mortality is dependent on the intensity of fishing. Consequently, for stock assessment, analysis on a cohort basis seems advisable.


1939 ◽  
Vol 4b (4) ◽  
pp. 233-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. L. Pritchard

Pink salmon fry were marked by the removal of certain fins to ensure later identification as adults. This procedure does not affect the growth or the feeding reactions of the fish. Three experiments were conducted on natural runs at McClinton creek, Masset inlet, B.C. On the basis of the most significant one of these it is concluded that the majority of the fish return to spawn in the stream in which they were hatched. Isolated individuals, in numbers not economically significant, may wander to a distance of 400 miles (645 kilometres). In the case of fry resulting from transplantation experiments from Tlell river, east coast of Graham island, to McClinton creek, there appears no consistent behaviour in regard to "homing". For fry, hatchery-raised and pond-reared, from Vedder river, Swelter creek eggs, no return to the parent stream was reported. All pink salmon mature in the autumn of their second year. Certain incidental checks in growth have been discovered on scales which should not be interpreted as representing a winter.


1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
pp. 1477-1483 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M Hoenig ◽  
Nicholas J Barrowman ◽  
Kenneth H Pollock ◽  
Elizabeth N Brooks ◽  
William S Hearn ◽  
...  

The Brownie models for tagging data allow one to estimate age- and year-specific total survival rates as well as tag recovery rate parameters. The latter can provide estimates of exploitation rates if the tag reporting, tag shedding, and tag-induced mortality rates can be estimated. A limitation of the models is that they do not allow for newly tagged animals to have different survival rates than previously tagged animals because of lack of complete mixing. We develop a model that allows for the animals to be incompletely mixed, or not fully recruited, into the population during the entire year in which they are tagged. There is a penalty in terms of precision associated with the use of this model. To increase the precision, we also developed a model for which it is assumed that animals become fully mixed (recruited) after a portion of the year has elapsed. Sometimes, animals must be tagged after the fishing season has begun. In this case, newly tagged animals experience fishing and natural mortality for only a fraction of the year. The partial-year non-mixing model can be modified to account for this situation.


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