Early Marine Migrations• General geography• Four general patterns• Influence of genetics

Coastal range of anadromous Pacific salmon and trout

Techniques employed to study

salmon at sea

Recently developed techniquesClassification of samples to population of origin by DNA analysis

Ultrasonic tagging with miniature transmitters and stationary, data-logging receivers

Vancouver Is.

Washington

Oregon

California

Sacramento River

Columbia River

Puget Sound

Post-smolt salmon are very similar, as indicated in this photo by Joe Orsi, NMFS, Auke Bay, AK

Note also that the scales are deciduous (tend to flake off)

ChinookChinookChinookChinookChinookChinook

coho

sockeye

chum

pink

Distribution of juvenile salmon on the continental shelf reflects adult distribution

Region Chinook Coho Chum Sockeye PinkGulf of AK 0.1 2.6 19.4 13.4 64.4SE AK 0.0 9.9 28.8 17.0 44.3Central BC 0.4 1.2 28.5 24.0 46.0WC Van Is 6.6 32.4 35.7 9.8 15.5WA-OR 47.0 42.4 8.5 1.3 0.8OR-CA 43.6 29.8 26.6 0.0 0.0CA 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Fisher et al. 2007 AFS Symposium 57

Percent of the salmon caught, by species

General Patterns of Ocean Migration

Distance (km) from shore

Catch per set

7-17 43420-30 26743-50 1.3

Implication:From July to September, there is a band of migrating salmon

from about Cape Flattery to the eastern Aleutian Islands. The band is narrow (about 30 km) along the coasts of British Columbia and southeast Alaska but widens as the continental shelf widens in the Gulf of Alaska. However, patterns vary among species and populations.

Hartt and Dell. 1986. INPFC Bulletin 46.

Extent of migrations at sea:

Pacific salmonids show 4 migration patterns:1. Post-smolts migrate rapidly northward along the coast during the summer, then move offshore until

they mature: sockeye, chum and pink salmon

Juvenile sockeye salmon

Generalized Sockeye Smolt Migration Route

Straty and Jaenicke 1980. In: McNeil and Himsworth. Salmonid Ecosystems of the North Pacific. OSU Press

Migratory routes of sockeye salmon smolts in the Strait of Georgia

Timing:

•Smolts enter the Fraser River estuary from mid-April through the end of May.

•Most smolts leave by end of June

•Northward orientation but movement affected by currents

Paired beach seines were deployed, north and south of the point of entry, to assess directionality of pink salmon movements in southeast Alaska by Jaenicke et al. (1984)

Year # north # south % north

1981 63,675 14,153 82%

1982 39,104 1.873 95%

Bering Sea

Gulf of Alaska

B.C.Washington

California

Oregon

Alaska

North Pacific Ocean

Marine distributions of North American and Japanese chum salmon

Patterns of ocean migrations:2. Post-smolts migrate slowly along the coast or move offshore until they mature: coho, chinook and masu salmon

Juvenile sockeye salmon

Adult coho salmon

Movement of coho salmon in May-June off Oregon, inferred from purse seine catches

with the net set in different directions Catches Direction of the

net’s opening76% of the juvenile coho

South

80% of the juvenile chinook

South

Catches Direction of the net’s opening

98% of the juvenile coho

South

72% of the maturing coho

North

Top: Miller et al. 1983. Fish. Res. 2:1-17.

Bottom: Pearcy and Fisher. 1988. Fish. Bull. 86.

Juvenile salmon are tagged before they leave freshwater

Coho :

Catch location, relative to origin

Catch Area

Origin AK B. C. WA OR CA

Alaska 98.7 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0

B. C. 5.6 90.1 4.1 0.2 0.0

Washington 0.1 37.9 42.3 17.8 1.8

Oregon 0.0 4.0 14.8 58.5 22.7

California 0.0 0.0 0.3 17.3 82.3

Weitkamp and Neely 2002 (see also Van Doornik et al. 2007 – genetics)

Most maturing coho salmon are caught near their area of origin but they may move south or north

Location and percentage of hatchery coho salmon caught in relation to origin

0

25

50

75

100

AK BC WA WA WA OR ORHatchery of origin (north to south)

% c

augh

t by

area

AK BC WA OR CA

Weitkamp and Neely 2002. CJFASWeitkamp and Neely 2002

AK BC WA OR CA

Estimated catches of coho salmon from Soos Creek Hatchery, Puget

Sound, based on coded wire tag data

Regions Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

SW VI 984 14236 6557 4148 135 0 0SJdF 260 904 4023 5746 754 27 11Puget S 207 379 650 29240 15804 14581 1207

WA CN 271 2423 2434 376 0 0 0WA CS 408 2046 926 158 5 0 0

Location and percentage of hatchery Chinook salmon caught in relation to Oregon river origin

0

25

50

75

100

TraskTras

k

Nestucc

a

Salmon

Yaquina

Alsea

Siuslaw

Umpqua

Coos Elk

Rogue

Rogue

Chetco

River of origin (north to south)

% c

augh

t by

area

AK BC WA OR CA

Nicholas and Hankin 1989

AK

BCOR CA

Coho and Chinook salmon: variation on the general patterns

• Stream-type chinook seem to migrate to offshore waters to a greater extent than ocean-type chinook

• Coho salmon in the northern part of the range seem to migrate offshore to a greater extent than southern populations

• Stream-type chinook tend to predominate in the northern part of the species’ range

• “Resident” populations of coho and Chinook exist in protected waters (e.g., Puget Sound)

Resident Chinook in Puget Sound

Origin Nov - May Aug - Oct Total

Soos Cr 7.3 47.4 54.7

U of W 27.3 26.6 53.9

Percentage of the annual catch that took place in Puget Sound during the non-migratory and migratory periods

Patterns of ocean migrations:3. Post-smolts migrate directly offshore and remain at sea until they mature: steelhead (sea-run rainbow trout)

Juvenile sockeye salmon

Steelhead trout

Purse seine catches per set of juvenile salmonids off Washington and Oregon in 1980, indicating

patterns of relative abundance

Species May 27 –June 7

July 4 - 15 Aug 28 –Sep 8

Chinook 6.7 2.4 6.4Coho 12.3 0.7 2.8

Steelhead 5.2 0.1 0.0

Miller et al. 1983

Catches per set of cutthroat and steelhead, and numbers of purse seine set in WA and

OR, indicating patterns of abundance

May June July August September

cutthroat 0.18 0.18 0.34 0.21 0steelhead 0.38 0.14 0.08 0.02 0

sets 180 327 130 66 152% cutthroat 32.7 55.7 81.5 93.3 0

Pearcy and Fisher 1990

Recent ultrasonic tracking of steelhead in British Columbia indicated average travel rates of 1.0 – 1.8

body lengths per second (Melnychuk et al. 2007)

Approach: catch and tag fish, and the transmitter is detected when it swims in the vicinity of a data logger.

Patterns of ocean migrations:4. Marine distribution largely limited to estuarine or coastal waters near the natal stream: cutthroat trout, bull trout (charr), Dolly Varden and Arctic charr

Sea-run bull trout

Salvelinus confluentus

Anadromous cutthroat trout, Oncorhynchus clarki

Most charr and cutthroat trout tend to spend only one summer at sea

0

30

60

90

% o

f tot

al leaving returning

Dolly Varden

0

20

40

60

Jan Mar May July Sept Nov

% o

f tot

al

cutthroat trout

leaving

returning

Eva Lake, southeast Alaska

Armstrong (1964, 1971)

Anadromous cutthroat trout

The length of the “summer” spent at sea varies with latitude (e.g., cutthroat trout)

0

15

30

45

Jan

Feb Mar AprMay

June

July

AugSep

tOct

NovDec

% o

f tot

al

leaving

returning

Sand Creek, Oregon

0

30

60

90

Jan

Feb Mar AprMay

June

July

AugSep

tOct

NovDec

% o

f tot

al

leaving

returning

Big Beef Creek, Washington Sumner (1962)

Wenburg (1998)

Armstrong (1971)

0

20

40

60

Jan

Feb

Mar Apr

May

June

July

Aug

Sept Oct

Nov Dec

% o

f tot

al

Eva Lake, Alaska

leaving

returning

Cutthroat trout smolts tend to be older in coastal populations than those entering protected waters; Johnson (1982) hypothesized that this reflects the more rigorous environment of the coastal ocean.

1 2 3 4 5

Washington coast 0 0 23 59 18

Oregon coast 0.3 6.4 46.3 38.8 7.7

Columbia River 0 65 33 2 0

Puget Sound 2.5 81.0 16.5 0 0

% of smolts at a given age

Genetic control of ocean distribution

Recovery LocationsSource AK BC WA OR CACowlitz-Kalama

2.9 21.7 72.8 2.5 0.1

Snake 1.1 9.0 50.0 27.7 12.2

Brood Year 1970-71 Spring Chinook salmon

Percent of fish recovered among locations

Genetic control of ocean distribution

Fall Chinook salmonRecovery Locations

Source BC Puget Sound

WA coast

OR coast

UW 43 50 6 1Hybrid 41 59 0 0Elwha 31 69 0 0

Brannon and Hershberger

Genetic control of ocean distribution

Recovery LocationsSource WA OR CA CRToutle (S) 26.1 43.4 8.5 21.0Cowlitz (N) 50.6 21.0 0.6 27.8

Columbia River coho salmon

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife data

Genetic influence on ocean distribution: Chinook salmon

00.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.8

CA OR WA BC AK

Freq

uenc

y

Tule Upriver brightsRogue River at Rouge Rogue River at Columbia

Pascual and Quinn 1994

Release location Cen AK SE AK N BC Cen BC WC VI WA ORSE AK 7 125 0 0 0 0 0WC VI 1 1 1 1 24 1 0Strait of Georgia 1 0 0 8 31 1 0Fraser River 0 0 0 3 19 0 0Puget Sound 2 0 1 11 401 6 0Coastal Washington 1 3 2 5 67 13 0Lower Columbia River 8 9 0 4 59 18 9Upper Columbia/Snake R. 0 0 1 0 12 23 5Coastal Oregon 2 1 0 2 14 1 3

Recoveries at sea in research sampling of juvenile coho salmon with coded wire tags from

hatcheries in different areas (“release locations”)

Morris et al. 2007 AFS Symposium 57

Note: Neither tagging nor sampling effort was uniform among areas

Recovery location