Field Test of Fluorescent Pigment Marking and Finclipping of Coho Salmon

Abstract

Three lots of age 0 coho salmon were placed in a 6-acre dirt pond. Fish in one lot were marked with fluorescent pigment; those in a second lot were marked with a finclip; and those in a third lot were unmarked. Rainbow trout and age 1 coho were also placed in the pond as potential predators on the fry. After 6 months, sampling of the fry indicated that the fluorescent pigment lot survived and grew as well as the unmarked lot, but that the finclipped lot did not fare as well as the other two in terms of survival and growth.