The timing of adult sockeye salmon migration into fresh water: adaptations by populations to prevailing thermal regimes

Abstract

Anadromous fishes migrate to sea, apparently to take advantage of growing conditions, and return to fresh water to spawn. Despite favorable growing conditions at sea in summer, some populations leave the ocean in spring, many months prior to spawning. We hypothesized that this premature migration is a consequence of the fish having to avoid stressful summer temperatures in order to access certain suitable areas for spawning in the fall. We tested this idea in sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka, by compiling data on the timing of migration and spawning and the freshwater temperature regime along the migration route in populations throughout the species' North American range. The timing of migration varied among populations and was primarily related to temperature regime during migration and the timing of spawning. When temperatures were moderate (<19°C), sockeye salmon tended to migrate to the vicinity of the spawning grounds about 1 month prior to spawning, regardless of the length of the freshwater migration. However, populations on whose migration route the average temperature exceeded 19°C displayed two basic patterns. Some populations entered fresh water prior to the warmest period, months before spawning, whereas others migrated after the period of highest temperatures had occurred.