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Seasonal Population Characteristics and Habitat Use by Juvenile Coho Salmon in a Small Southeast Alaska Stream
Author(s) -
Dolloff C. Andrew
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1987)116<829:spcahu>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - juvenile , fishery , habitat , population , geography , ecology , biology , demography , sociology
The density, growth, production, and movements of juvenile coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch from a wild population were evaluated after the fish were transplanted into five types of habitat (clear‐cut, forest, meadow, slough tributary, forest tributary) in a small southeastern Alaska stream. Instantaneous growth ranged from 0.0066 in the clear‐cut habitat to 0.0055 in the slough tributary. Daily increase in fork length was about 0.10 mm/d system‐wide. Annual production of coho salmon in each habitat type was: meadow, 3.32 g/m 2 ; slough tributary, 2.47 g/m 2 ; clear‐cut, 1.75 g/m 2 ; forest, 1.59 g/m 2 ; and forest tributary, 1.34 g/m 2 . During all sampling periods, most fish were recaptured at the site where they were released; those fish that moved neither selected nor avoided specific habitat types. These findings suggest that all habitats should be managed to meet both the summer and winter needs of juvenile coho salmon because most fish do not move among habitats after the initial population adjustment in the spring. The ability of a stream to produce fish depends not only on the amount and accessibility of habitat, but also on the distribution of habitat types.