the effect of hatchery release strategy on marine migratory behaviour and apparent survival of seymour river steelhead smolts (oncorhynchus mykiss)孵卵所释放的影响策略对海洋迁徙行为和明显的生存西摩河虹鳟溯河洄游雄mykiss).pdfVIP

The Effect of Hatchery Release Strategy on Marine Migratory Behaviour and Apparent Survival of Seymour River Steelhead Smolts (Oncorhynchus mykiss) 1 ¤ 2 3 4 5 Shannon Balfry * , David W. Welch , Jody Atkinson , Al Lill , Stephen Vincent 1 Faculty of Land and Food Systems, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 2 Kintama Research Services Ltd., Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, 3 Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 4 Living Rivers–Georgia Basin/Vancouver Island, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 5 Seymour Salmonid Society, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Abstract Early marine migratory behaviour and apparent survival of hatchery-reared Seymour River steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) smolts was examined over a four year period (2006–2009) to assess the impact of various management strategies on improving early marine survival. Acoustically tagged smolts were released to measure their survival using estuary and coastal marine receivers forming components of the Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking (POST) array. Early marine survival was statistically indistinguishable between releases of summer run and winter run steelhead races, night and day releases, and groups released 10 days apart. In 2009, the survival of summer run steelhead released into the river was again trialed against groups released directly into the ocean at a distance from the river mouth. Apparent survival was improved significantly for the ocean released groups. The health and physiological status of the various release groups were monitored in years 2007– 2009, and results indicate that the fish were in good health, with no clinical signs of disease