Food Consumption of Juvenile Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Chinook Salmon (O. tshawytscha) on the Continental Shelf off Washington and Oregon

Abstract

The overall food consumption by juvenile coho (Oncorhychus kisutch) and chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) along the continental shelf off Washington and Oregon was estimated for the summer months of 1981–84 using both a direct field and indirect bioenergetic approach. Both models yielded similar estimates but the consumption estimated by the bioenergetic model was 14.8 and 3.2% higher for coho and chinook salmon, respectively. In a given year, overall consumption increased throughout the summer, despite decreasing abundances of both salmon species, but there were substantial differences among the four years within the same month. A preliminary comparison of the consumption estimates for important prey taxa early in the summer with estimated zooplankton biomass suggested that sufficient food levels may have been available for salmon during 1981. During the El Niño of 1983, however, several prey groups were consumed at high levels relative to their estimated availability and the biomass of these taxa may not have been sufficient to sustain the total population of salmon.