North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission

Technical Report 15

Table of Contents

Characterizing Juvenile Chinook Salmon Residency and Early Growth in the Lower Fraser River Estuary

Authors:
Lia Chalifour, David C. Scott, Misty MacDuffee, John F. Dower, Terry D. Beacham, and Julia K. Baum

Abstract Excerpt:
The Harrison River is a tributary of the lower Fraser River system which produces the highest proportion of fall-run, subyearling migrant Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Salish Sea (Fraser et al. 1982; Murray and Rosenau 1989). Subyearling migrant Chinook, which emigrate to estuarine and marine waters within the first year, may be more dependent on nearshore habitats than yearling migrants during their first year of ocean residency (Weitkamp et al. 2014). Some cohorts emigrate as early as first emergence from their eggs as fry in March, while others arrive in the estuary well into their first year, in June and July (Levings et al. 1986; Healey 1991). Previous studies have inferred salmon stock composition based on catch timing, fork length and known life history strategies (Levy and Northcote 1982). Current technology allows us to precisely identify stock groups using tissue samples and genetic analysis (Beacham et al. 2011). Otolith studies can give a detailed picture of the life history of individual fishes, including quantitative measures of residency in different water bodies (Miller et al. 2010; Volk et al. 2010). Using a combination of genetic and otolith analyses, we assessed the stock-specific utilization of three habitat types in the lower Fraser estuary by emigrating Chinook.

*This is the first paragraph of an extended abstract. Download the full abstract below.

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23849/npafctr15/13.15.

Citation

Chalifour, L., D.C. Scott, M. MacDuffee, J.F. Dower, T.D. Beacham, and J.K. Baum.  2019.  Characterizing juvenile Chinook salmon residency and early growth in the lower Fraser River estuary.  N. Pac. Anadr. Fish Comm. Tech. Rep. 15: 13–15.  https://doi.org/10.23849/npafctr15/13.15.