Imprinting Salmon and Steelhead Trout for Homing, 1980 Annual Report of Research.
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), under contract to the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), is conducting research on imprinting Pacific salmon and steelhead for homing. Imprinting is defined as a rapid and irreversible learning experience that provides fish with the ability to return to natal streams or a preselected site. The ability to activate the imprint mechanism at the proper time should assure a suitable homing cue that coupled with transportation (Park et al. 1979) will result in high smolt survival and ensure adequate returns to the homing site or hatchery. In our study, we use single imprints and sequential imprints. Single imprinting is cueing fish to a unique, single water supply prior to release. Various mechanical stimuli may be used in combination with the unique water source to achieve the single imprint. Sequential imprinting is cueing fish to two or more water sources in a step-by-step process to establish a series of signposts for the route ''home''. The primary objectives of our homing research are as follows: (1) Determine a triggering mechanism to activate the homing imprint in salmonids. (2) Determine whether a single imprint or a series of stimuli (sequential imprinting) are necessary to assure homing for various stocks of salmonids. (3) Determine the relationship between the physiological condition of fish (gill Na+-K+ ATPase activity, etc.) and their ability to imprint. Our study began in 1978, and the first 2 years activities were reported by Slatick et al. (1979, 1980) and Novotny and Zaugg (1979). This report covers the research for the third year (1980). Specific activities of the third year's research were divided into three categories: (1) mark and release additional groups of juvenile salmonids to test imprinting techniques, (2) determine health profiles and monitor smoltification status of juvenile test fish, and (3) monitor and evaluate adult returns from juveniles marked and released in 1978 and 1979 to determine the efficiency of the imprinting techniques.
- Research Organization:
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- United States. Bonneville Power Administration.
- DOE Contract Number:
- 1980BP18236
- OSTI ID:
- 912861
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/BP-0021; R&D Project: 1978-001-00; TRN: US200802%%421
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Study of Disease and Physiology in the 1979 Homing Study Hatchery Stocks: A Supplement to "Imprinting Salmon and Steelhead Trout for Homing", 1979 by Slatick, Gilbreath, and Walch.
Imprinting Salmon and Steelhead Trout for Homing, 1978 Annual Report of Research.