Microscale Environments along the Seaward Migration Route of Stocked Chum Salmon Fry

Abstract

AbstractThe microscale environment (e.g., current velocity) along the migratory route of aquatic organisms may directly affect their performance (e.g., migration speed or survival). We used minnow traps to evaluate how stocked Chum Salmon Oncorhynchus keta fry use stream velocity to optimize seaward migration. We found that fry were primarily captured at night and the number of fry collected was higher in traps with faster velocity water at the entrance to the trap. We interpreted this to mean that the fry were optimizing their migration efficiency by using faster velocity areas, which promote more rapid downstream migration.