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Variation in reproductive success and effective number of breeders in a hatchery population of steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss): examination by microsatellite-based parentage analysis

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Abstract

Conservation programs that release captive-bred individuals into the wild to mix with naturally produced individuals are an increasingly common method of supporting or enhancing weak or reduced populations that otherwise may not be self-sustaining. Captive and supportive breeding can be important conservation tools for species with small or declining populations; however, in the case of hatcheries producing salmonid fishes, detailed evaluation of spawning programs is rare. We examined variation in reproductive success, measured by adult offspring production, from three parental generations of hatchery-bred steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) using an exclusion-based method of genetic parentage assignment. Reproductive success varied greatly among individuals (especially males) and was correlated with fecundity and maternal spawning date. Estimates of egg to smolt survival for the population as a whole among years ranged from 64% to 95%, marine survival ranged from 0.32% to 2.30%, and the number of adults produced per female ranged from 0 to 18 and the number of adults produced per male ranged from 0 to 32. The effective number of breeders ranged from 11% to 31% of the census population size for that brood year. These ratios fell within estimates from estimates of Ne/N in chinook (O. tshawytscha) and rainbow trout (O. mykiss) hatchery populations.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Forks Creek Hatchery Staff, particularly George Britter, Rob Allan and Dave Shores, and University of Washington students, especially Greg Mackey, Chris Boatright, and Sayre Hodgson for assistance with sampling. The Weyerhaeuser Company, the National Science Foundation (Grant DEB-9903914), the H. Mason Keeler Endowment, the Hatchery Science Reform Group in Washington State, and the Bonneville Power Administration (Project #2003-050-00) contributed funding. Fred Utter and two anonymous reviewers were extremely helpful in providing suggestions to improve a previous version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195-5020, USA

    Jennifer E. McLean, Todd R. Seamons, Michael B. Dauer & Thomas P. Quinn

  2. Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z4

    Jennifer E. McLean

  3. Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 4J1

    Paul Bentzen

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  1. Jennifer E. McLean
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Correspondence to Jennifer E. McLean.

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McLean, J.E., Seamons, T.R., Dauer, M.B. et al. Variation in reproductive success and effective number of breeders in a hatchery population of steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss): examination by microsatellite-based parentage analysis. Conserv Genet 9, 295–304 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-007-9340-0

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