Modelling the trajectories of migrating Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

This paper describes a model for simulating the trajectories of migrating Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in the ocean. Surface current and temperature representations were used as boundary conditions for simulation of migration trajectories. Representations of surface currents were derived from a gen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian journal of fisheries and aquatic sciences 2008-03, Vol.65 (3), p.352-361
Main Authors: Booker, Douglas J, Wells, Neil C, Smith, I Philip
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Boundary conditions
Climatology
Comparative analysis
Environmental aspects
Exploitation and management of natural biological resources (hunting, fishing and exploited populations survey, etc.)
Fish migration
Fishes
Freshwater
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects. Techniques
Marine
Methods and techniques (sampling, tagging, trapping, modelling...)
Migration
Ocean currents
Salmo salar
Salmon
Sea surface temperature
Simulation
Swimming
Water temperature
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Summary:This paper describes a model for simulating the trajectories of migrating Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in the ocean. Surface current and temperature representations were used as boundary conditions for simulation of migration trajectories. Representations of surface currents were derived from a general circulation model forced by realistic winds and then tested through comparisons with observed trajectories of drifting buoys. Observed climatology data were used to represent sea surface temperature patterns. The model was used to simulate the trajectories of 15 individual salmon that were tagged in their home rivers and subsequently recaptured at sea. In contrast to a random swimming direction model, trajectories simulated using both rheotaxis and thermotaxis as direction-finding mechanisms passed close to the recapture locations of the salmon. The timings and positions of the trajectories simulated using rheotaxis corresponded more closely with the observed data than those simulated using thermotaxis. This work indicates that either rheotaxis or thermotaxis, or a combination of the two, are possible direction-finding mechanisms for migrating Atlantic salmon.
ISSN:0706-652X
1205-7533
DOI:10.1139/f07-173