Changes in life history parameters in a naturally spawning population of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) associated with releases of hatchery-reared fish

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) spawning runs in Glenariffe Stream, New Zealand, exhibited significant changes in life history traits following supplementation releases of hatchery-reared juveniles. Total run strength did not change but the proportion of naturally produced fish declined to 34%. Attempts to separate spawners of natural and hatchery origin were unsuccessful, and 31-48% of natural spawners are now of hatchery origin. Hatchery males were smaller at age 2 and 3 than males of natural origin, and more often matured as jacks, producing an 86-mm decrease in mean fork length over 28 years. There was no change in length at age or age at maturity for female spawners. The proportion of jacks entering Glenariffe Stream each year was positively correlated with the proportion of jacks in the ensuing cohort. Most differences between fish of natural and hatchery origin were related to hatchery rearing practices, but the decline in age at maturity among naturally produced males appears to reflect traits inherited from parent stock of hatchery origin. Hatchery releases may also favour the survival of ocean-type fry over stream-type fry, possibly reversing a tendency for stream-type behaviour to evolve in response to the lack of estuaries on most New Zealand chinook salmon rivers.