Premium
Returns of Cage‐Released and Non‐Cage‐Released Chinook and Coho Salmon to Illinois Harbors of Lake Michigan
Author(s) -
Savitz J.,
Bardygula L.G.,
Funk G.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8675(1993)013<0550:rocran>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - chinook wind , oncorhynchus , electrofishing , fishery , cage , fish <actinopterygii> , biology , engineering , structural engineering
The purpose of this study was to determine if young chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and coho salmon O. kisutch released in harbors along the Illinois shoreline of Lake Michigan returned to these sites as adults, and if caging of salmon in these harbors prior to their release increased the return of adult salmon. Each planting of chinook and coho salmon consisted of two marked groups: caged and noncaged. The plantings were done in spring 1987, 1988, and 1989 in Diversey Harbor and Waukegan Harbor. During the summers of 1989 and 1990, chinook and coho salmon caught by weekend charter boat anglers were examined for marked fish. Salmon were collected in the early fall months of 1988, 1989, and 1990 by DC electrofishing in harbors along the Illinois coastline, Of 2,702 chinook and coho salmon captured by electrofishing, only 154 fish belonged to any of the caged or noncaged groups. With the exception of the caged chinook salmon released from Waukegan Harbor in 1988, significantly more adult salmon returned to their release harbors than to other harbors, and more fish returned to harbors closer to their release harbors than to more distant harbors. There were no significant differences in returns of mature salmon from caged and noncaged groups.