The Importance of Juvenile Migration Tactics to Adult Recruitment in Stream‐Type Chinook Salmon Populations

Abstract

Abstract The existence of multiple migration tactics within a population has been observed for several fish species, and they may contribute differentially to adult recruitment. Relative contribution by juveniles using the same habitats on different schedules is variable; therefore, understanding and conserving this diversity should be important to fisheries managers. We investigated adult recruitment by two distinct juvenile migration tactics in several spawning populations of stream‐type Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in Idaho: those leaving the spawning grounds as subyearlings during June through November (downstream rearing, or DSR, type) and those emigrating from natal areas 1 year after emergence (natal reach rearing, or NRR, type). The DSR type had greater juvenile abundance in all populations, although the NRR type exhibited better survival from the natal reach to the migratory corridor. The DSR type had greater survival from smoltification to adult return to freshwater compared with the NRR type. More DSR emigrants than NRR emigrants returned to freshwater as adults, although the difference was influenced by cohort and population. Adult recruits to stream‐type Chinook Salmon populations in Idaho are comprised mostly of DSR emigrants, i.e., fish that dispersed from their natal habitats and reared in reaches downstream. This finding is ubiquitous, although the size of the effect depends on cohort and population. We demonstrated that juvenile Chinook Salmon in Idaho do indeed use downstream rearing habitats effectively, thereby increasing recruitment of adults back to the spawning gravels in these populations. This study illustrates how dispersive life histories are essential to achieve the full productive potential of migratory stream fish populations. Received March 31, 2014; accepted July 16, 2014