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juvenile life history of coho salmon in PS and SJF

2K views 18 replies 9 participants last post by  Salvy 
#1 ·
All,

I'm currently doing a literature review for immature Coho salmon use of habitat in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound- or all of the Salish Sea to make this complete.

I'm wondering who has information on depth use of Coho salmon based on size. Fish typically utilize deeper habitats as they get bigger (general statement). If you have scientific information, that would be wonderful with a paper reference. I'd love to hear anecdotal replies as well.

In short, do Coho utilize on nearshore habitat? The obvious answer is yes. When they are not nearshore, are they benthic in nature when not in the littoral zone or still found in the upper water column. So if they are offshore in 15 m of water will they be found near the bottom or at the surface?

Information tied to age would be excellent.

Yes, I'm mooching off of FF knowledge for scientific applications. How could any scientist that fly fishes pass on the opportunity.

Thank you.
 
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#2 ·
Don't have any scientific papers to help out but I would be very interested in anything anyone provides. I know I've caught coho down to 300' while fishing for kings in the straights and ocean so they definitely will go deeper, and have caught plenty residents deeper in the sound while trolling but anecdotal evidence doesn't do you much good.

Kudos for your research! Cool to see someone focusing on these fish. I find their life rather mysterious and interesting.
 
#3 ·
Nick, thanks. Yes, their life history is complex and elusive in the details. Surprisingly, I've found more on the other species of salmon than on Coho. Presently digging into the literature as I write this.

The size I am thinking of are fish that are between 10-16 inches. But any information will be great.
 
#4 ·
Salvy-
Might look for a couple papers with Jessica Rohde as the lead author; other authors for both papers include Thomas Quinn, and Kurt Fresh with Anna Kagley contributing to the 2013 paper.

"Factors affecting the partial migration in Puget Sound Coh0, 2014"

"Partial migration and Diel movement patterns in Puget Sound coho, 2013"

Don't have link to either paper.

Curt
 
#6 ·
So cool to learn about the different strategies of Coho. Some stay as residents in Puget Sound, never going "out to sea".

Thanks for the contributions. After the replies and my literature review I think I have what I need.

Take care everyone.
 
#7 ·
Actually, I'll propose another question.

What species would you expect to be on or near bottom in places like Gov't Cut or the channel that leads into Sequim Bay? Specifically during med to high tidal flow times in the middle of the channel.

I feel most of the salmonids would be closer to shore. Some flat fish like English sole et al.?

Thanks.
 
#8 ·
For what it is worth (seems simplistic), follow the preferred food, and you will find the fish. In the Strait of Georgia, up to roughly 3-4 pounds, coho seem to prefer “pink feed” aka zooplankton (shrimp, crab and other invertebrate larvae). Those organisms have a diel pattern of migration, so they & coho are at or near the surface during low light hours and conversely, deeper during daylight hours. As they grow (and young-of-the year herring appear) coho seem to switch over to herring/sandlance diet. That is roughly June to October/November in their last 5-6 months at sea. They can more than double their weight. During this time in the Georgia Strait, coho will be where the feed is. I’ve seen them in 20-40 feet of water (or less), and also in 150 feet plus around herring schools.

For publications, check for Beamish et.al. I don’t recall names of the junior scientists or techs who worked with him. You’d be looking at 1990-2010 (roughly). A treasure trove of information that you should already have is “Pacific Salmon Life Histories” edited by Groot and Margolis. (UBC Press, 1991.). Piles of references. A favourite place to publish was CJFAS and also NAJFM. Sometimes some really good work ends up in grey literature; which is too bad. Hoping this is old news for you. I’m retired now and haven’t kept up with newer science.
 
#9 ·
I'd be very interested to know if any work has been done linking kelp bed distribution and juvenile salmon survival. Strictly an armchair biologist hunch on my part that Puget Sound salmon would be doing much better if PS looked more like, say, Barkeley Sound in terms of kelp bed concentration. For that matter, what happened to all the kelp?
 
#12 ·
There is a real dearth of kelp in PS, isn’t there. For what it's worth, when I have tried fishing around the few patches that there are in the north sound, I have not found a whole lot of coho.

I think Viucutthroat has the gist of coho feeding patterns about right, and I think that applies to central PS too. In some years I have found aggregations of coho feeding on plankton on the surface over deep water in June/July when the resident coho season opens, some years they are not there but can be found deep and full of fish. I suspect that the timing of the switch to herring/sandlance depends on the relative abundance of food sources and varies quite a lot year to year.
 
#14 ·
Over at the SportfishingBC forums there's a user Bugs who is researching local salmon to Victoria. One of the juvenile habitats Bugs has investigated is the stomachs of returning adults. :) The life of a spawner is more important to the species than the life of a juvenile..

I'd get a hold of that user if you're not already in touch. :)

Sent from my Moto Z2 Play using Tapatalk
 
#16 ·
http://www.richardbeamish.com/uploads/1/6/0/0/16007202/master_publication_list_with_pdf_dec2012.doc

Have a look here. This is from Beamish's website. Lots of primaries and others. 1995 has some interesting stuff on Georgia Strait, Fraser plume, coho etc. Got to go make dinner, but heck you are the student?

This one sticks out: but my eyes aren't what they used to be. Beamish, R.J, C.-E. Neville, J. Rice, and Z. Zhang. 1995. Factors affecting the marine survival of Coho salmon in the Strait of Georgia. PSARC Working Paper S95-4. 32p. + 7 figs. I'm certain the reference section will have other papers.
 
#19 ·
Wow. Thanks to everyone for the thoughts, papers, hunches, and fishing information.

I love that I'm a new scientist here and while I lean on the peer-reviewed literature I'm getting some great insight from the FF here.

Thanks again.

If I publish something, I'll pass it through here for sure. Especially if it lends itself directly or indirectly to some good FF knowledge.

Have a good weekend.
 
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