North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission

Technical Report 23

Table of Contents

Chinook Salmon Overwinter Residency in the Strait of Georgia: Insights from Acoustic Telemetry

Authors:
Wesley L. Greentree, William D.P. Duguid, Nick Bohlender, Katie G. Innes, Bridget Maher, Jamieson Atkinson, and Francis Juanes

Abstract Excerpt:
Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) exhibit diverse life history strategies across freshwater rearing, ocean entry timing, marine migrations, and maturation timing. The marine migrations of Chinook salmon are poorly resolved in terms of space, time, and individual variation. In Chinook salmon populations from rivers draining into the Strait of Georgia, ocean-type juveniles spend their first summer at sea feeding and growing in the Strait (Quinn 2021; Quinn and Losee 2022). At an unresolved time after the first ocean summer, some juveniles emigrate to the continental shelf off the west coast of Vancouver Island and the outer Pacific coast of North America (Weitkamp 2010; Tucker et al. 2011).  Other individuals remain resident in the Strait of Georgia for most or all of their marine life (O’Neill and West 2009; Chamberlin et al. 2011; Arostegui et al. 2017). There may also be an intermediate or “transient” migration strategy (Kagley et al. 2017), as migratory diversity is likely a continuum of strategies. Since migrants and residents likely encounter distinct feeding opportunities, predation risks, and fisheries exploitation (Quinn 2021; Quinn et al. 2022), it is important to determine if individual physiological condition influences migration behaviour.

*This is the first paragraph of an extended abstract. Download the full abstract below.

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23849/npafctr23/f2k-8ss

Citation

Greentree, W.L., W.D.P. Duguid, N. Bohlender, K.G. Innes, B. Maher, J. Atkinson, and F. Juanes.  2024.  Chinook salmon overwinter residency in the Strait of Georgia: insights from acoustic telemetry.  N. Pac. Anadr. Fish Comm. Tech. Rep. 23: 4–7.  https://doi.org/10.23849/npafctr23/f2k-8ss