Migration of Anadromous Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) in Southeastern Alaska

Abstract

Of anadromous Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) migrating from the sea into Hood Bay Creek, Admiralty Island, and two other nonlake streams nearby, 61–87% were immature. Most of the immature fish left the streams within a few days of entering. Though nearly all smolts leaving the creek for 3 yr were marked, only 16–21% of the immature fish entering the stream bore these marks. Many of the fish marked in the creek as smolt were recovered entering the two other study streams as immature fish but not as spawners.Mature immigrants remained in the streams for several weeks until they had completed spawning in October and November. Most Dolly Varden that spawned in the creek had been marked there previously as smolt or as spawners, and none were observed to spawn in a stream other than the stream of origin. Smolts transplanted during their oceanward migration returned to spawn in the receiving stream, and adults displaced to saltwater sites on returning to the study streams returned to their home streams. Most fish from the creek spawned only once or twice. Males suffered a much higher spawning mortality than did females.This study and others on fish from lake-stream systems suggest that (1) anadromous Dolly Varden from nonlake streams in southeastern Alaska migrate both between nonlake streams and between nonlake streams and lake-stream systems; (2) during their first summer in the sea, fish from nonlake streams enter several streams while searching for one with a lake; (3) mature fish from nonlake streams leave their wintering area, usually a lake, and return to their home streams to spawn; and (4) mature fish from lake-stream systems go to the ocean to feed for several weeks to a few months and return to their home system to spawn and overwinter.