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Movement patterns and feeding behavior of juvenile salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) along armored and unarmored estuarine shorelines

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Abstract

Estuarine nearshore environments are important habitats for many organisms, including juveniles of several Pacific salmon species (Oncorhynchus spp.). These habitats provide shallow water and high prey productivity, but are increasingly modified by anthropogenic activity including shoreline armoring, which disrupts connectivity between aquatic and terrestrial realms and artificially steepens the shore. Such effects may have adverse consequences for juvenile salmon, particularly Chinook (O. tshawytscha) and chum (O. nerka), which are known to rely on shallow, productive nearshore habitats for foraging and refuge from predators during their outmigration from natal streams to the sea. We developed snorkel methods to quantify feeding rates, movement rates, and path complexity of juvenile salmon along armored and unarmored shorelines in Puget Sound, WA, USA. We found that juvenile salmon had relatively high feeding rates along all shoreline types, but that path straightness and movement rates showed some variation between armored and unarmored sites. Feeding fish swam in more complex paths and were observed in larger schools than non-feeding fish, and path straightness and movement rate were negatively correlated with proportion of time feeding. Feeding behavior, school size, and movement rates also showed variation by species. Shoreline type (armored or unarmored) influenced juvenile salmon distribution, and unarmored shorelines appear to accommodate a greater diversity of movement patterns than armored shorelines. Our results show that juvenile salmon feed at high rates along armored and unarmored estuarine shorelines, thus decreased prey availability or altered prey resources are likely the most detrimental foraging effects of armoring in estuarine nearshore ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

We thank members of the Wetland Ecosystem Team, especially Claire Levy, Beth Armbrust, Erin Morgan, Lia Stamatiou, and Katie Dowell for assistance with field work. Thanks to Mary Ramirez and Erin Morgan for assistance with processing movement path data in ArcGIS and map creation. Charles Simenstad and Megan Dethier provided valuable reviews of this manuscript prior to submission. We thank Washington Sea Grant, the University of Washington School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences, the Seattle Art Museum, the City of Seattle, and Seattle Public Utilities for supporting this research.

All applicable international, national, and institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. All fish surveys performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of Washington.

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  1. School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Box 355020, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Sarah M. Heerhartz & Jason D. Toft

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  1. Sarah M. Heerhartz
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Correspondence to Sarah M. Heerhartz.

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Heerhartz, S.M., Toft, J.D. Movement patterns and feeding behavior of juvenile salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) along armored and unarmored estuarine shorelines. Environ Biol Fish 98, 1501–1511 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0377-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0377-5

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