Premium
Adult Returns of Volitionally Migrating and Pond‐Sedentary Hatchery‐Reared Steelhead Smolts
Author(s) -
Tipping Jack M.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
north american journal of aquaculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.432
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1548-8454
pISSN - 1522-2055
DOI - 10.1577/a05-104.1
Subject(s) - raceway , juvenile , hatchery , biology , fishery , rainbow trout , fish <actinopterygii> , zoology , ecology , engineering , structural engineering , finite element method
Adult return rates of steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss that volitionally emigrated as smolts were compared with those of pond‐sedentary juveniles forced from a raceway after being allowed 6 weeks of volitional migration opportunity. In 5 years of releases, an average of 7.2% of the smolts remained in the raceway after the volitional migration opportunity. Adult returns of volitional and pond‐sedentary fish were statistically similar in all but 1 year of release; in that year, pond‐sedentary returns were significantly greater than those from the volitional release. The results suggest that pond‐sedentary juvenile steelhead should not be destroyed or placed in nonanadromous waters out of concern for poor adult survival.