Factors influencing the spawning migration of female anadromous brown trout

Abstract

Radio telemetry was employed to study movements of adult female anadromous brown troutSalmo trutta(sea trout) during upstream spawning migration and following spawning in a stream with tributaries. Sea trout were monitored by manual tracking and by automatic listening stations. The latter suggested that initiation of upstream migration was positively correlated with stream discharge. Individual sea trout performed repeated upstream migration ‘initiations’(visits) to areas where they were detected by the automatic listening stations. The first and subsequent upstream migration ‘initiations’ occurred under conditions of similar water temperature and stream discharge. Manual tracking indicated that in the pre‐spawning state, the distance migrated over 3 days was positively correlated with stream discharge and water temperature, whereas in the post‐spawning state, the total distance migrated was not correlated with any of these two environmental variables.