Forecasting Forage Demand and Yield of Sterile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in Lake Michigan

Abstract

We assessed the potential role of sterile chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) as piscivores and as the focus of a new trophy fishery in Lake Michigan. An energetics model for standard (not sterilized) chinook salmon was modified to extend the life history for up to 10 yr of life in Lake Michigan. A stocking of sterile fish consumes about one and a half times as much forage as would an equivalent stocking of standard chinook salmon over their life span, yet actually contributes less to the fishery because it lacks components that would mature precociously. At current growth rates, fish of trophy size (22.7 kg) would begin to appear in the fishery about 5 yr after stocking. Approximately 0.3% of sterile chinook would appear in the trophy fishery. These unique fish offer important opportunities for socioeconomic and ecological research.