Effects of surgically implanted acoustic transmitters >2% of body mass on the swimming performance, survival and growth of juvenile sockeye and Chinook salmon

Abstract

The influence of surgical implantation of an acoustic transmitter on the swimming performance, growth and survival of juvenile sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka and Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha was examined. The transmitter had a mass of 0·7 g in air while sockeye salmon had a mass of 7·0–16·0 g and Chinook salmon had a mass of 6·7–23·1 g (a transmitter burden of 4·5–10·3% for sockeye salmon and 3·1–10·7% for Chinook salmon). Mean critical swimming speeds (Ucrit) for Chinook salmon ranged from 47·5 to 51·2 cm s−1 [4·34–4·69 body lengths (fork length, LF) s−1] and did not differ among tagged, untagged and sham‐tagged groups. Tagged sockeye salmon, however, did have lower Ucrit than control or sham fish. The mean Ucrit for tagged sockeye salmon was 46·1 cm s−1 (4·1 LF s−1), which was c. 5% less than the mean Ucrit for control and sham fish (both groups were 48·6 cm s−1 or 4·3 LF s−1). A laboratory evaluation determined that there was no difference in LF or mass among treatments (control, sham or tag) either at the start or at the end of the test period, suggesting that implantation did not negatively influence the growth of either species. None of the sockeye salmon held under laboratory conditions died from the influence of surgical implantation of transmitters. In contrast, this study found that the 21 day survival differed between tagged and control groups of Chinook salmon, although this result may have been confounded by the poor health of Chinook salmon treatment groups.