Identification of Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynehus nerka) Stocks in Mixed-stock Fisheries in British Columbia and Southeast Alaska using Biological Markers

Abstract

We demonstrate the present analytical capability and the potential for coast-wide stock identification of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) using reference sampling data from 51 principal stocks in British Columbia and Southeast Alaska situated between the Fraser and Taku Rivers. We evaluate the relative accuracy and precision of stock composition estimates from maximum likelihood mixture analysis with four types of biological markers, either alone or in combination; these include freshwater age, six scale pattern variables, the prevalence of the brain parasite Myxobolus neurobius, and five biochemical genetic (electrophoretic) traits. Using all markers in combination, estimates of mixing proportions for all test mixtures are acceptable for most purposes (roughly ± 10% with 95% confidence) providing all samples are representative and mixture samples are large ([Formula: see text] fish). The reliability of these estimates is greatly reduced when reference samples are corrupted to simulate observed annual variation in scale pattern markers. Annual variation may preclude the use of scale pattern markers for complicated stock identification problems where representative reference samples cannot be obtained annually, or until after the fishing period. In contrast, no significant annual variation is detectable for biochemical genetic and brain parasite markers in stocks that have been sampled repeatedly. Using only these stable markers, contributions from about 15 different groups of the 51 stocks can be estimated with acceptable precision, but in general, estimates for individual stocks are unreliable.