Patterns of Marine Straying
PhD Student Mimi Obley
The marine distribution patterns of salmon are highly correlated to region of origin. These distributions remain consistent across cohorts from the same populations and may inform stray distribution patterns. Despite salmon’s innate ability to home to their natal stream, individuals stray away from their river of origin into other streams, rivers, or systems. The purpose of this research is to identify if the marine distribution patterns bias where individuals stray.
Methods
Marine and stray distribution patterns are currently being collected and categorized from the coded wire tags from the RMIS database to compare distributions. Stream data from the stray distributions is also being collected to better understand the conditions that influence stray distributions.
Above is an example of an RMIS query where you can find the release site and retrieval location of fish tagged with a coded wire tag.
Importance of the work
Not only can this help direct efforts to collect stray hatchery fish from wild spawning grounds, but it can also help predict where fish may stray under changing climate and ocean conditions.
