Cycles of abundance among Fraser River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)

• Published in: Canadian journal of fisheries and aquatic sciences 1997-04, Vol.54 (4), p.950-968
• Main Author: Ricker, W E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agnatha. Pisces; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Demecology; Freshwater; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Oncorhynchus nerka; Vertebrata
• ISSN: 0706-652X; 1205-7533
• DOI: 10.1139/f97-047

In some but not all populations of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) that mature mainly at age 4, there has been a persistently ``dominant'' line, a ``subdominant'' line about 10-25% as large, and two weak lines having less than 1% as many fish as the dominant one. Suggested causes of this phenomenon that have been shown to be wrong or inadequate are the presence of a few sockeye of ages 3 and 5 in the spawning stocks and a somewhat larger rate of harvest of the nondominant lines. The only plausible type of explanation that has been suggested so far involves interaction between the dominant line and the others, and the only specific example involves a 4-year cycle of abundance of a predacious fish at Shuswap Lake, described by F.J. Ward and P.A. Larkin. Other types of interaction are possible, but have not been documented. The magnitudes of the instantaneous interaction mortality rates at Shuswap Lake are estimated as about 0.78 per generation for the subdominant line out of a 7.65 total, and 1.11 out of 7.94 for the weak line 3, line 4 being similar.