Behaviour and Ecology of Sockeye Salmon Fry in the Babine River

In the Upper and Lower Babine rivers the fry of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) emerge and move downstream, predominately at night, before reaching low-velocity areas along the stream margins. After a period of days or weeks these fry migrate upstream, close inshore, during the day. The diel pattern of upstream movement appears to be bimodal. The seasonal periodicities of both downstream and upstream movement are related to water temperatures.Upstream migrants were larger than downstream migrants in the Upper Babine River but not in the Lower Babine River. Upper River upstream migrants were similar in length to Lower River upstream migrants during 1964 but not in 1965. In both years Upper River fry weighed proportionately more than Lower River fry, and in both rivers 1964 fry weighed proportionately less than 1965 fry. Some possible explanations of these observations are discussed.Early in the season, fry tend to disperse alongshore after entering the lake. Later they leave these inshore areas and become entirely pelagic.The principal foods of fry both in the river and in the lake were copepod and cladoceran plankters.Both fish and birds were found to be preying on sockeye salmon fry. Fry appear to be more vulnerable to predation in the river than in the lake.The upstream movement of fry in the Babine River does not appear to differ appreciably from upstream movements in other areas. A comparison of fry movements in the Babine River and the Fulton River, where fry move only downstream, suggests that the differences in behaviour are genetically rather than environmentally induced.It is suggested that, because of high mortalities in the prepelagic period, upstream-migrant populations will only develop where the environment of both the river and the rearing lake are especially favourable.