Interannual and Spatial Feeding Patterns of Hatchery and Wild Juvenile Pink Salmon in the Gulf of Alaska in Years of Low and High Survival

Abstract

To improve understanding of the mechanisms affecting growth and survival, we evaluated the summer diets and feeding patterns (prey composition, energy density, and stomach fullness) of hatchery and wild juvenile pink salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha in Prince William Sound (PWS) and the northern coastal Gulf of Alaska (CGOA). Our study (1999-2004) included 2 years of low (∼3%), mid (∼5%), and high (∼8-9%) survival of PWS hatchery pink salmon. Because variations in diet should affect growth and ultimately survival, we expected that the variations in diet, growth, and survival would be correlated. During August in the CGOA, pteropod-dominated diets and higher gut fullness corresponded to high survival (5-9%), and copepod-dominated diets and lower gut fullness corresponded to low survival (3%). Within years, no significant differences were found in diet composition or gut fullness between hatchery and wild fish or among the four PWS hatchery stocks. Diets varied by water mass (habitat) as juveniles moved from PWS to more saline habitats in the CGOA. In July, when juveniles were most abundant in PWS, their diets were dominated by pteropods and hyperiid amphipods. The diets of fish that moved to inner-shelf (i.e., the least-saline) habitat in the CGOA in July were dominated by larvaceans in low-survival years and pteropods in high-survival years. Diet quality was higher in CGOA habitats than in PWS in July. In August, fish moved to the more productive, more saline water masses in the CGOA, where large copepods and pteropods were dominant prey and diet quality was better than in PWS. Our results indicate that spatial variation in the diets of juvenile pink salmon in July and the timing of migration to the CGOA play a critical role in marine growth and survival.