Downstream and Early Marine Migratory Behaviour of Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) Smolts Entering Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island

1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 1329-1337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris C. Wood ◽  
N. Brent Hargreaves ◽  
Dennis T. Rutherford ◽  
Brian T. Emmett

Behaviour of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) smolts was studied during their migration down the Stamp and Somass rivers and through Alberni Inlet and Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island. Emigration from Great Central Lake was typical of other sockeye lakes: smolt abundance peaked in early May and most smolts left the lake at dusk. Migration down the rivers occurred only during twilight or darkness and most smolts made the 25-km journey to tidal waters within a single night. Those that did not held position in tight schools in the surface waters of deep pools during daylight. During downstream migration, ground speed averaged about 2.5 km/h, and smolts did not appear to be especially vulnerable to predation owing to their short residence time, with few smolts remaining in the river during daylight. Catch rates at purse-seine sampling sites throughout Alberni Inlet and Barkley Sound indicated that sockeye smolts migrated more slowly in tidal waters and were sometimes highly vulnerable to predaceous fish (especially Pacific hake, Merluccius productus). Estimated migration speeds through Alberni inlet were 1.9 km/d for smolts entering tidal waters during April and May, and 1.3 km/d for those during June and July; speed through Barkley Sound was 1.6 km/d throughout May–July.

1994 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 441-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith A. Thomson ◽  
W. James Ingraham Jr. ◽  
Michael C. Healey ◽  
Paul H. LeBlond ◽  
Cornelius Groot ◽  
...  

We hypothesized that the interannual variability of the northeast Pacific Ocean circulation affects the return times of Fraser River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). Homeward migrations were simulated for 1982 (with a relatively weak Alaska Gyre circulation) and 1983 (with a relatively strong circulation) in the context of three sequential return migration phases: a nondirected oceanic phase, a directed oceanic phase, and a directed coastal phase. Passive drifters were simulated to examine the influence of ocean currents during the nondirected oceanic phase: model fish south of 48°N were advected closer to Vancouver Island in 1983 compared with 1982; those north of 48°N were advected closer to Vancouver Island in 1982 than in 1983. Fish were simulated during the directed oceanic phase using a variety of behaviour scenarios: model fish starting south of 50°N had earlier return times in 1983 than in 1982; those starting north of 50°N had return times in 1983 that were generally the same as or later than in 1982. We inferred that ocean currents would modulate the environmental influences on return times during the directed coastal migration phase, by deflecting sockeye salmon into different oceanographic domains along the British Columbia coast.


1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (11) ◽  
pp. 1963-1971 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. P. Quinn ◽  
C. C. Wood ◽  
L. Margolis ◽  
B. E. Riddell ◽  
K. D. Hyatt

Although it is widely accepted that adult Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) spawn in their natal stream, there are few quantitative estimates of homing precision in wild populations. The prevalence of two myxosporean parasites, Myxobolus neurobius and Henneguya salminicola, indicated very precise homing in certain sockeye salmon (O. nerka) populations in British Columbia (Long and Owikeno lakes on the central coast and Sproat, Great Central, and Henderson lakes on Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island). These populations were also sampled for electrophoretic differences at 23 loci. Genetic differences were found among all five populations, and estimates of straying from these data corroborated the parasitological evidence that straying is rare (< 1%).


1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 850-852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilda Lei Ching

Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) from Great Central Lake, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, were sampled in May of 1986 and 1987 to study the locations and sizes of plerocercoids of Diphyllobothrium dendriticum. In 1986, 93% of 59 smolts were infected with a total of 222 plerocercoids (mean intensity ± SE, 4.0 ± 3.4; range, 1–15). In 1987, 77% of 168 smolts were infected with a total of 341 plerocercoids (mean ± SE, 2.6 ± 1.8; range, 1–9). More than 75% of the infected fish contained one to three plerocercoids, which were more often found free in the musculature than encysted in the viscera. Plerocercoids occurred most frequently in the midepaxial and midhypaxial musculature and encysted on the stomach and pyloric ceca. Plerocercoids varied in body length: those from the stomach area were <2 mm, and those in the viscera and musculature were 3–10 mm (a few from the musculature were >10 mm).


1990 ◽  
Vol 47 (12) ◽  
pp. 2380-2389 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Garnick ◽  
L. Margolis

Each of four helminth parasite species, including the cestodes Eubothrium salvelini, Diphyllobothrium dendriticum, and Proteocephalus sp. and the nematode Philonema oncorhynchi, was found to influence the orientation of seaward-migrating sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) smolts from the Great Central Lake area, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Smolts placed in circular tanks were allowed to exit into evenly spaced bucket traps, and fish from five such runs were measured, sexed, and examined for the presence of parasites. Fish were categorized on the basis of infection status ("+" vs. "−") for each of the four parasite species found. The +/− groups did not differ for any of the parasite categories with respect to either bucket distributions or overall orientation directions. However, "−" groups did exhibit consistently greater departure from random distribution than their "+" counterparts. This finding suggests interference of parasites with smolt orientation, which could in turn have important implications for smolt survival. This finding also suggests that parasite infection may account to some extent for the considerable variability observed in the migratory behaviour of smolts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 639 ◽  
pp. 185-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
MJ Malick ◽  
ME Hunsicker ◽  
MA Haltuch ◽  
SL Parker-Stetter ◽  
AM Berger ◽  
...  

Environmental conditions can have spatially complex effects on the dynamics of marine fish stocks that change across life-history stages. Yet the potential for non-stationary environmental effects across multiple dimensions, e.g. space and ontogeny, are rarely considered. In this study, we examined the evidence for spatial and ontogenetic non-stationary temperature effects on Pacific hake Merluccius productus biomass along the west coast of North America. Specifically, we used Bayesian additive models to estimate the effects of temperature on Pacific hake biomass distribution and whether the effects change across space or life-history stage. We found latitudinal differences in the effects of temperature on mature Pacific hake distribution (i.e. age 3 and older); warmer than average subsurface temperatures were associated with higher biomass north of Vancouver Island, but lower biomass offshore of Washington and southern Vancouver Island. In contrast, immature Pacific hake distribution (i.e. age 2) was better explained by a nonlinear temperature effect; cooler than average temperatures were associated with higher biomass coastwide. Together, our results suggest that Pacific hake distribution is driven by interactions between age composition and environmental conditions and highlight the importance of accounting for varying environmental effects across multiple dimensions.


Author(s):  
Thomas P. Quinn ◽  
George R. Pess ◽  
Ben J.G. Sutherland ◽  
Samuel J. Brenkman ◽  
Ruth E. Withler ◽  
...  

1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (9) ◽  
pp. 1551-1561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy S. Collie ◽  
Carl J. Walters

Despite evidence of depensatory interactions among year-classes of Adams River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), the best management policy is one of equal escapement for all year-classes. We fit alternative models (Ricker model and Larkin model) to 32 yr of stock–recruitment data and checked, using simulation tests, that the significant interaction terms in the Larkin model are not caused by biases in estimating the parameters. We identified a parameter set (Rationalizer model) for which the status quo cyclic escapement policy is optimal, but this set fits the observed data very poorly. Thus it is quite unlikely that the Rationalizer model is correct or that the status quo escapement policy is optimal. Using the fitted stock–recruitment parameters, we simulated the sockeye population under several management policies. The escapement policy optimal under the Ricker model is best overall because of the high yields if it should be correct. If the three stock–recruitment models are equally likely to be correct, the simulations predict that adopting a constant-escapement policy would increase long-term yield 30% over the current policy and that an additional 15% increase in yield could be obtained if the policy were actively adaptive.


2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Godwin ◽  
L. M. Dill ◽  
M. Krkošek ◽  
M. H. H. Price ◽  
J. D. Reynolds

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