Strain-specific survival and growth of juvenile Atlantic salmon in Central New York tributaries

Reintroduction of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar in the Lake Ontario watershed represents a historical challenge for fisheries managers dating to the late 1800s. To assess the feasibility for reintroduction, strain-specific differences in survival and growth was evaluated in central New York tributaries in 2014 and 2015. Fry of Lake Memphremagog and Sebago Lake strains were stocked at target densities of 100 fry/100 m2 in tributaries within the Ontario Drumlins and Fish Creek regions. Salmon abundance, density, and survival was estimated at each stocking location. Standardized mass-specific growth rate (Gs) and absolute growth in length (GL) of age-0 parr and age-1 pre-smolts was evaluated with two-way analysis of variance. For both strains, survival was largely site-dependent in the Drumlins region and stream-dependent in the Fish Creek region. The Lake Memphremagog strain exhibited faster growth, suggesting that physiological adaptations of this strain make it a more suitable candidate for reintroduction in the region when the source is available. However, limited availability of the Lake Memphremagog strain may direct future efforts to employ the more widely-evaluated and available Sebago Lake strain.