Survival, Growth, and Smolt Production of Atlantic Salmon Stocked as Fry in a Southern New England Stream

Abstract

Abstract The performance of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar stocked as fry was assessed in a third-order stream of the lower Connecticut River system. Stocking densities of 100–150 unfed fry per 100 m2 of stream area were tested for their ability to maximize smolt production. Because the Connecticut River no longer had a natural population of Atlantic salmon, fry originating from the Penobscot River of Maine were stocked in 1982, 1984, and 1985. In 1983, the Penobscot strain was unavailable and fry originating from Iceland were used instead. Although stocking conditions were not always favorable, an average of 27% of Penobscot fry survived to the fall age-0 pan stage. In contrast, only 2% of Icelandic fry survived to this stage, The low survival of Icelandic fry may have been due to their smaller total lengths and to intraspecific competition from an abundant population of yearlings that had been stocked in 1982. However, these factors would not have influenced summer-to-fall survival of yearlings, which was ...