Early Marine Migrations General geography Four general patterns Influence of genetics
Coastal range of anadromous Pacific salmon and trout
Techniques employed to study salmon at sea
Recently developed techniques Classification of samples to population of origin by DNA analysis Ultrasonic tagging with miniature transmitters and stationary, datalogging receivers
Vancouver Is. Washington Columbia River Oregon Puget Sound California Sacramento River
Post-smolt salmon are very similar, as indicated in this photo by Joe Orsi, NMFS, Auke Bay, AK Note also that the scales are deciduous (tend to flake off)
Chinook Chinook Chinook Chinook Chinook coho sockeye chum pink
Distribution of juvenile salmon on the continental shelf reflects adult distribution Percent of the salmon caught, by species Region Chinook Coho Chum Sockeye Pink Gulf of AK 0.1 2.6 19.4 13.4 64.4 SE AK 0.0 9.9 28.8 17.0 44.3 Central BC 0.4 1.2 28.5 24.0 46.0 WC Van Is 6.6 32.4 35.7 9.8 15.5 WA-OR 47.0 42.4 8.5 1.3 0.8 OR-CA 43.6 29.8 26.6 0.0 0.0 CA 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Fisher et al. 2007 AFS Symposium 57
General Patterns of Ocean Migration Distance (km) from shore Catch per set 7-17 434 20-30 267 43-50 1.3 Implication: From July to September, there is a band of migrating salmon from about Cape Flattery to the eastern Aleutian Islands. The band is narrow (about 30 km) along the coasts of British Columbia and southeast Alaska but widens as the continental shelf widens in the Gulf of Alaska. However, patterns vary among species and populations. Hartt and Dell. 1986. INPFC Bulletin 46.
Extent of migrations at sea: Pacific salmonids show 4 migration patterns: 1. Post-smolts migrate rapidly northward along the coast during the summer, then move offshore until they mature: sockeye, chum and pink salmon Juvenile sockeye salmon
Generalized Sockeye Smolt Migration Route Straty and Jaenicke 1980. In: McNeil and Himsworth. Salmonid Ecosystems of the North Pacific. OSU Press
Migratory routes of sockeye salmon smolts in the Strait of Georgia Timing: Smolts enter the Fraser River estuary from mid-april through the end of May. Most smolts leave by end of June Northward orientation but movement affected by currents
Paired beach seines were deployed, north and south of the point of entry, to assess directionality of pink salmon movements in southeast Alaska by Jaenicke et al. (1984) Year # north # south % north 1981 63,675 14,153 82% 1982 39,104 1.873 95%
Bering Sea Alaska North Pacific Ocean Gulf of Alaska B.C. Washington Oregon California
Marine distributions of North American and Japanese chum salmon
Patterns of ocean migrations: 2. Post-smolts migrate slowly along the coast or move offshore until they mature: coho, chinook and masu salmon Adult coho salmon Juvenile sockeye salmon
Movement of coho salmon in May-June off Oregon, inferred from purse seine catches with the net set in different directions Catches 76% of the juvenile coho 80% of the juvenile chinook Direction of the net s opening South South Catches 98% of the juvenile coho 72% of the maturing coho Direction of the net s opening South North Top: Miller et al. 1983. Fish. Res. 2:1-17. Bottom: Pearcy and Fisher. 1988. Fish. Bull. 86.
Juvenile salmon are tagged before they leave freshwater
Coho : Catch location, relative to origin
Most maturing coho salmon are caught near their area of origin but they may move south or north Catch Area Origin AK B. C. WA OR CA Alaska 98.7 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 B. C. 5.6 90.1 4.1 0.2 0.0 Washington 0.1 37.9 42.3 17.8 1.8 Oregon 0.0 4.0 14.8 58.5 22.7 California 0.0 0.0 0.3 17.3 82.3 Weitkamp and Neely 2002 (see also Van Doornik et al. 2007 genetics)
% caught by area Location and percentage of hatchery coho salmon caught in relation to origin 100 75 50 25 0 AK BC WA OR CA AK AK BC WA WA WA OR OR ORCA Weitkamp and Neely 2002 Weitkamp and Neely 2002. CJFAS Hatchery of origin (north to south)
Estimated catches of coho salmon from Soos Creek Hatchery, Puget Sound, based on coded wire tag data Regions Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec SW VI 984 14236 6557 4148 135 0 0 SJdF 260 904 4023 5746 754 27 11 Puget S 207 379 650 29240 15804 14581 1207 WA CN 271 2423 2434 376 0 0 0 WA CS 408 2046 926 158 5 0 0
Location and percentage of hatchery Chinook salmon caught in relation to Oregon river origin % caught by area 100 75 50 25 0 Nicholas and Hankin 1989 AK Trask Trask Nestucca Salmon Yaquina AK BC WA OR CA BC OR River of origin (north to south) Alsea Siuslaw Umpqua Coos Elk Rogue Rogue Chetco CA
Coho and Chinook salmon: variation on the general patterns Stream-type chinook seem to migrate to offshore waters to a greater extent than ocean-type chinook Coho salmon in the northern part of the range seem to migrate offshore to a greater extent than southern populations Stream-type chinook tend to predominate in the northern part of the species range Resident populations of coho and Chinook exist in protected waters (e.g., Puget Sound)
Resident Chinook in Puget Sound Percentage of the annual catch that took place in Puget Sound during the non-migratory and migratory periods Origin Nov - May Aug - Oct Total Soos Cr 7.3 47.4 54.7 U of W 27.3 26.6 53.9
Patterns of ocean migrations: 3. Post-smolts migrate directly offshore and remain at sea until they mature: steelhead (sea-run rainbow trout) Juvenile sockeye salmon
Steelhead trout
Purse seine catches per set of juvenile salmonids off Washington and Oregon in 1980, indicating patterns of relative abundance Species May 27 June 7 July 4-15 Aug 28 Sep 8 Chinook 6.7 2.4 6.4 Coho 12.3 0.7 2.8 Steelhead 5.2 0.1 0.0 Miller et al. 1983
Catches per set of cutthroat and steelhead, and numbers of purse seine set in WA and OR, indicating patterns of abundance May June July August September cutthroat 0.18 0.18 0.34 0.21 0 steelhead 0.38 0.14 0.08 0.02 0 sets 180 327 130 66 152 % cutthroat 32.7 55.7 81.5 93.3 0 Pearcy and Fisher 1990
Recent ultrasonic tracking of steelhead in British Columbia indicated average travel rates of 1.0 1.8 body lengths per second (Melnychuk et al. 2007) Approach: catch and tag fish, and the transmitter is detected when it swims in the vicinity of a data logger.
Patterns of ocean migrations: 4. Marine distribution largely limited to estuarine or coastal waters near the natal stream: cutthroat trout, bull trout (charr), Dolly Varden and Arctic charr Sea-run bull trout Salvelinus confluentus
Anadromous cutthroat trout, Oncorhynchus clarki
Most charr and cutthroat trout tend to spend only one summer at sea 90 Dolly Varden Eva Lake, southeast Alaska % of total 60 30 0 60 leaving cutthroat trout returning returning Armstrong (1964, 1971) % of total 40 20 leaving 0 Jan Mar May July Sept Nov
Anadromous cutthroat trout
The length of the summer spent at sea varies with latitude (e.g., cutthroat trout) 60 Eva Lake, Alaska returning % of total % of total 40 20 0 90 60 30 0 Jan leaving Feb Mar Apr May June July leaving Aug Sept Armstrong (1971) Oct Nov Dec % of total Big Beef Creek, returning Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 45 30 15 0 Jan leaving Sand Creek, Oregon returning Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Washington Sumner (1962) Wenburg (1998) Oct Nov Dec
Cutthroat trout smolts tend to be older in coastal populations than those entering protected waters; Johnson (1982) hypothesized that this reflects the more rigorous environment of the coastal ocean. % of smolts at a given age 1 2 3 4 5 Washington coast 0 0 23 59 18 Oregon coast 0.3 6.4 46.3 38.8 7.7 Columbia River 0 65 33 2 0 Puget Sound 2.5 81.0 16.5 0 0
Genetic control of ocean distribution Brood Year 1970-71 Spring Chinook salmon Recovery Locations Source AK BC WA OR CA Cowlitz- Kalama 2.9 21.7 72.8 2.5 0.1 Snake 1.1 9.0 50.0 27.7 12.2 Percent of fish recovered among locations
Genetic control of ocean distribution Fall Chinook salmon Source BC Puget Sound Recovery Locations WA coast OR coast UW 43 50 6 1 Hybrid 41 59 0 0 Elwha 31 69 0 0 Brannon and Hershberger
Genetic control of ocean distribution Columbia River coho salmon Recovery Locations Source WA OR CA CR Toutle (S) 26.1 43.4 8.5 21.0 Cowlitz (N) 50.6 21.0 0.6 27.8 Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife data
Genetic influence on ocean distribution: Chinook salmon Tule Rogue River at Rouge Upriver brights Rogue River at Columbia Frequency 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 CA OR WA BC AK Pascual and Quinn 1994
Recoveries at sea in research sampling of juvenile coho salmon with coded wire tags from hatcheries in different areas ( release locations ) Recovery location Release location Cen AK SE AK N BC Cen BC WC VI WA OR SE AK 7 125 0 0 0 0 0 WC VI 1 1 1 1 24 1 0 Strait of Georgia 1 0 0 8 31 1 0 Fraser River 0 0 0 3 19 0 0 Puget Sound 2 0 1 11 401 6 0 Coastal Washington 1 3 2 5 67 13 0 Lower Columbia River 8 9 0 4 59 18 9 Upper Columbia/Snake R. 0 0 1 0 12 23 5 Coastal Oregon 2 1 0 2 14 1 3 Note: Neither tagging nor sampling effort was uniform among areas Morris et al. 2007 AFS Symposium 57