Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Behaviour and physiology of sockeye salmon homing through coastal waters to a natal river

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Adult sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka, N = 179) from six Fraser River populations (British Columbia) were intercepted in continental shelf waters ∼215 km from the Fraser River mouth, gastrically implanted with acoustic transmitters, non-lethally biopsied for blood biochemistry, gill Na+,K+-ATPase activity and somatic energy density and then released. Migration behaviour and travel times to the river mouth and into the river were monitored by underwater telemetry receivers positioned at the river mouth and in the river. Post-release survival of salmon was excellent, with 84% (N = 150) of fish reaching the furthest receiving station ∼85 km upriver. Fish from Late-summer run populations (Adams and Weaver Creek) averaged a migration rate of ∼20 km day−1 through the marine area and held at the river mouth and adjacent areas for 7–9 days before entering the river. Summer-run populations (Birkenhead, Chilko, Horsefly and Stellako) had a migration rate ∼33 km day−1 and held for only 1–3 days. Once in river, similar patterns were observed: Late-run populations migrated at ∼28 km day−1 and Summer-run populations at ∼40 km day−1. From point of release to the river mouth, males migrated faster than females, but once in river migration rates did not differ between sexes. Among all females, a correlation was discovered between levels of circulating testosterone and river entry timing. This correlation was not observed among males. Plasma K+, Cl−, glucose, lactate and osmolality were also correlated with entry timing in both sexes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Beacham TD, Withler RE, Wood CC (1995) Stock identification of sockeye salmon by means of minisatellite DNA variation. North Am J Fish Manage 15:249–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beacham TD, Lapointe M, Candy JR, McIntosh B, MacConnachie C, Tabata A, Kaukinen K, Deng L, Miller KM, Withler RE (2004) Stock identification of Fraser River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) using microsatellites and major histocompatibility complex variation. Trans Am Fish Soc 133:1106–1126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bêty J, Giroux JF, Gauthier G (2004) Individual variation in timing of migration: causes and reproductive consequences in greater snow geese (Anser caerulescens atlanticus). Behav Ecol Socbiol 57:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brett R (1995) Energetics. In: Groot C, Margolis L, Clarke WC (eds) Physiological ecology of Pacific Salmon. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, pp 1–68

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgner RL (1991) Life history of sockeye salmon. In: Groot C, Margolis L (eds) Pacific salmon life histories. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, pp 3–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabin RJ, Mitchell RJ (2000) To Bonferroni or not to Bonferroni: when and how are the questions. Bull Ecol Soc Am 81:246–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Carruth LL, Jones RE, Norris DO (2002) Stress in Pacific salmon: a new look at the role of cortisol in olfaction and home-stream migration. Int Comp Biol 42:574–581

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke SJ, Hinch SG, Farrell AP, Lapointe MF, Jones SMR, Macdonald JS, Patterson DA, Healey MC, Van Der Kraak G (2004) Abnormal migration timing and high en route mortality of sockeye salmon in the Fraser River, British Columbia. Fisheries 29:22–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke SJ, Crossin GT, Patterson DA, English KK, Hinch SG, Young JL, Alexander RF, Healey MC, Van Der Kraak G, Farrell AP (2005) Coupling non-invasive physiological assessments with telemetry to understand inter-individual variation in behaviour and survivorship of fish: development and validation of a technique. J Fish Biol 67:1342–1358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke SJ, Hinch SG, Crossin GT, Patterson DA, English KK, Healey MC, Macdonald JS, Shrimpton JM, Van Der Kraak G, Farrell AP (2006) Mechanistic basis of individual mortality in Pacific salmon during spawning migrations. Ecology 87:1575–1586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke SJ, Hinch SG, Crossin GT, English KK, Lister A, Patterson DA, Healey MC, Farrell AP, Van Der Kraak G, Shrimpton JM (2007) Physiological correlates of migration behaviour in Late summer Fraser River sockeye salmon. Behav Ecol (in press)

  • Crossin GT, Hinch SG (2005) A non-lethal method for assessing the somatic energy content of adult pacific salmon. Trans Am Fish Soc 134:184–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crossin GT, Hinch SG, Farrell AP, Higgs DG, Lotto AG, Oakes JD, Healey MC (2004) Energetics and morphology of sockeye salmon: effects of upriver migratory distance and elevation. J Fish Biol 65:788–810

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devlin R, Nagahama Y (2002) Sex determination and sex differentiation on fish: an overview of genetic, physiological and environmental influences. Aquaculture 208:191–364

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dingle H (1996) Migration: the biology of life on the move. Oxford University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Døving KB, Selset R, Thommesen G (1980) Olfactory sensitivity to bile acids in salmonid fishes. Acta Physiol Scand 108:123–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Døving KB, Stabell OB (2003) Trails in open water: sensory cues in salmon migration. In: Collins SP, Marshall NJ (eds) Sensory processing in aquatic environments. Springer, New York, pp 39–52

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • English KK, Sliwinski C, Labelle M, Koski WR, Alexander R, Cass A, Woodey JC (2004) Migration timing and inriver survival of Late-run Fraser River sockeye in 2003 using radio-telemetry techniques. Consultant Report, Prepared for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Biological Station

  • Farrell AP, Gallaugher PE, Fraser J, Pike D, Bowering P, Hadwin AKM, Parkhouse W, Routledge R (2001) Successful recovery of the physiological status of coho salmon on-board a commercial gillnet vessel by means of a newly designed revival box. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 58:1932–1946

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilhoussen P (1990) Prespawning mortalities of sockeye salmon in the Fraser River system and possible causal factors. Int Pac Salm Fish Comm Bull 26:1–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Hendry AP, Berg OK (1999) Secondary sexual characters, energy use, senescence, and the cost of reproduction in sockeye salmon. Can J Zool 77:1663–1675

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendry AP, Morbey YE, Berg OK, Wenburg JK (2004) Adaptive variation in senescence: reproductive lifespan in a wild population of salmon. Proc R Soc Lond 271:259–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinch SG, Bratty JM (2000) Effects of swim speed and activity pattern on success of adult sockeye salmon migration through an area of difficult passage. Trans Am Fish Soc 129:604–612

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinch SG, Rand PS (1998) Swim speeds and energy use of river migrating adult sockeye salmon: role of local environment and fish characteristics. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 55:1821–1831

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinch SG, Cooke SJ, Healey MC, Farrell AP (2006) Behavioural physiology of fish migrations: salmon as a model approach. In: Sloman K, Balshine S, Wilson R (eds) Fish physiology: behaviour and physiology of fish, vol 24. Elsevier, New York, pp 239–295

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hodgson S, Quinn TP (2002) The timing of adult sockeye salmon migration into fresh water: adaptations by populations to prevailing thermal regimes. Can J Zool 80:542–555

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houston AH (1990) Blood and circulation. In: Schreck CB, Moyle PB (eds) Methods for fish biology. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD, pp 273–334

    Google Scholar 

  • Jain KE, Farrell AP (2003) Influence of seasonal temperature on the repeat swimming performance of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. J Exp Biol 206:3569–3579

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinnison MT, Unwin MJ, Hendry AP, Quinn TP (2001) Migratory costs and the evolution of egg size and number in introduced and indigenous salmon populations. Evolution 55:1656–1667

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kubokawa K, Watanabe T, Yoshioka M, Iwata M (1999) Effects of acute stress on plasma cortisol, sex steroid hormone and glucose levels in male and female sockeye salmon during the breeding season. Aquaculture 172:335–349

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lack DL (1954) The regulation of animal numbers. Clarendon Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee CG, Farrell AP, Lotto A, MacNutt MJ, Hinch SG, Healey MC (2003) The effect of temperature on swimming performance and oxygen consumption in adult sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka) and coho (O. kisutch) salmon stocks. J Exp Biol 206:3239–3251

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McCormick SD (1993) Methods for the nonlethal gill biopsy and measurements of Na+,K+-ATPase activity. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 50:656–658

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McMaster M, Munkittrick K, Van Der Kraak G (1992) Protocol for measuring circulating levels of gonadal sex steroids in fish. Can Tech Rep Fish Aquat Sci 1836

  • Morbey Y (2000) Protandry in Pacific salmon. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 57:1252–1257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myers JP (1981) A test of three hypotheses for latitudinal segregation of the sexes in wintering birds. Can J Zool 59:1527–1534

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakamura I, Evans J, Kasakabe M, Nagahama Y, Young G (2005) Changes in steroidogenic enzyme and steroidogenic acute regulatory protein messenger RNAs in ovarian follicles during ovarian development of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Gen Comp Endocrinol 144:224–231

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Olsén KH, Liley NR (1993) The significance of olfaction and social cues in milt availability, sexual hormone status, and spawning behavior of male rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Gen Comp Endocrinol 89:107–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oring LW, Lank DB (1982) Sexual selection, arrival times, philopatry and site fidelity in the polyandrous spotted sand- piper. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 10:185–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pankhurst NW, Van Der Kraak G (1997) Effects of stress on reproduction and growth of fish. In: Iwama GK, Pickering AD, Sumpter JP, Schreck CB (eds) Fish stress and health in aquaculture. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 73–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinn TP (1980) Evidence for a celestial and magnetic compass orientation in lake migrating sockeye salmon fry. J Comp Physiol 137:243–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn TP, Terhart BA, Groot C (1989) Migratory orientation and vertical movements of homing adult sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka, in coastal waters. Anim Behav 37:587–599

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn TP, Peterson JA, Gallucci V, Hershberger WK, Brannon EL (2002) Artificial selection and environmental change: countervailing factors affecting the timing of spawning by coho and chinook salmon. Trans Am Fish Soc 131:591–598

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rice WR (1989) Analyzing tables of statistical tests. Evolution 43:223–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shrimpton JM, Patterson DA, Richards JG, Cooke SJ, Schulte PM, Hinch SG, Farrell AP (2005) Ionoregulatory changes in different populations of maturing sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) during ocean and river migration. J Exp Biol 208:4069–4078

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Standen EM, Hinch SG, Healey MC, Farrell AP (2002) Energetic costs of migration through the Fraser River Canyon, British Columbia, in adult pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and sockeye (O. nerka) salmon as assessed by EMG telemetry. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 59:1809–1818

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ueda H, Yamauchi K (1995) Biochemistry of fish migration. In: Hochachka PW, Mommsen TP (eds) Environmental and ecological biochemsitry. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 265–297

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ueda H, Urano A, Zohar Y, Yamauchi K (2000) Hormonal control of homing migration in salmonid fishes. In: Proceedings of the 6th international symposium on the reproductive physiology of fish. Department of Fisheries and Marine Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, pp 95–98

  • Van Der Kraak G, Sorensen PW, Stacey NE, Dulka JG (1989) Periovulatory female goldfish release three potential pheromones: 17 alpha, 20 beta dihydroxyprogesterone, 17 alpha, 20 beta dihydroxyprogesterone glucuronide, and 17 alpha hydroxyprogesterone. Gen Comp Endocrin 73:452–457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Welch DW, Truro S, Batten SD (2006) Large-scale marine and freshwater movements of white sturgeon. Trans Am Fish Soc 135:140–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young JL, Cooke SJ, Hinch SG, Crossin GT, Patterson DA, Farrell AP, Van Der Kraak G, Lotto AG, Lister A, Healey MC, English KK (2006) Physiological and energetic correlates of en route mortality for abnormally early migrating adult sockeye salmon in the Thompson River, British Columbia. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 63:1067–1077

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Many thanks are extended to M. Lapointe, J. Hills, the skipper and crew of the Sunfisher, R. Alexander, L. Crossin, K. English, T. Watson and G. Wagner. Logistic support was provided by Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Environmental Watch Program, and by the Census of Marine Life. Financial support was provided through NSERC Discovery and Strategic Grants to S.G.H., A.P.F. and G.V.D.K. G.T.C. was supported by an NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS-D3).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Applied Conservation Research and Department of Forest Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Glenn T. Crossin & Scott G. Hinch

  2. Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Scott G. Hinch

  3. Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Steven J. Cooke

  4. Kintama Research Corp., 10-1850 Northfield Rd., Nanaimo, BC, V9S 3B3, Canada

    David W. Welch & Sonia D. Batten

  5. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Cooperative Resource Management Institute, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada

    David A. Patterson

  6. Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Glen Van Der Kraak

  7. Department of Biology, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, V2N 4Z9, Canada

    J. Mark Shrimpton

  8. Department of Zoology and Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Anthony P. Farrell

Authors
  1. Glenn T. Crossin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Scott G. Hinch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Steven J. Cooke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. David W. Welch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Sonia D. Batten
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. David A. Patterson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Glen Van Der Kraak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. J. Mark Shrimpton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Anthony P. Farrell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Glenn T. Crossin.

Additional information

Communicated by R.J. Thompson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Crossin, G.T., Hinch, S.G., Cooke, S.J. et al. Behaviour and physiology of sockeye salmon homing through coastal waters to a natal river. Mar Biol 152, 905–918 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0741-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0741-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation