Captive rearing often alters the phenotypes of organisms that are destined for release into the wild. Natural selection on these unnatural phenotypes could have important consequences for the utility of captive rearing as a restoration approach. We show that normal hatchery practices significantly advance the development of endangered Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) fry by 30+ days. As a result, ...

The effective population size is influenced by many biological factors in natural populations. To evaluate their relative importance, we estimated the effective number of breeders per year (Nb) and effective population size per generation (Ne) in anadromous steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the Hood River, Oregon (USA). Using demographic data and genetic parentage analysis on an almost c...

—Spawning date is a crucial life history trait in fishes, linking parents to their offspring, and it is highly heritable in salmonid fishes. We examined the spawning dates of coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch and chinook salmon O. tshawytscha at the University of Washington (UW) Hatchery for trends over time. We then compared the spawning date patterns with the changing thermal regime of the Lak...

The scarcity of conventional feed resources and their high price has necessitated exploring cost effective non-conventional ingredients to be utilized to replace the conventional ones like hatchery waste (HW). The chemical composition of HW has revealed its nutrient composition especially higher level of fat (1821%), which pose threat to spoil the quality of of product through rancidity. Hatche...

Salmonella enterica causes a number of significant poultry diseases and is also a major pathogen in humans. Most poultry infected by Salmonella become carriers; infection may also be fatal, depending on the particular serovar and the age of the bird at infection. Younger birds are more susceptible to infection by Salmonella, so it is critical that hatcheries monitor birds. We developed a method...

Programs to rebuild imperiled wild fish populations often include hatchery-born fish derived from wild populations to supplement natural spawner abundance. These programs require monitoring to determine their demographic, biological, and genetic effects. In 1990s in Washington State, the Summer Chum Salmon Conservation Initiative developed a recovery program for the threatened Hood Canal summer...

The tongue sole, Cynoglossus semilaevis (Cynoglossidae), is one of the most economically important fishery resources in Korea. This study presents a preliminary investigation of the future viability of the complete aquaculture of tongue sole in Korea. Specifically, possible differences in genetic variability between wild populations of tongue sole from Korea and hatchery-produced populations of...

Population supplementation programs that release captive-bred offspring into the wild to boost the size of endangered populations are now in place for many species. The use of hatcheries for supplementing salmonid populations has become particularly popular. Nevertheless, whether such programs actually increase the size of wild populations remains unclear, and predictions that supplementation f...

Pen shell (Atrina pectinata) is a popular food source with a high commercial value in a number of Asian Pacific areas. The natural A. pectinata population has been declining continuously over the past several decades. Microsatellite DNA markers are a useful DNA-based tool for monitoring the genetic variation of pen shell populations. In this study, 20 polymorphic microsatellite (MS) DNA markers...

Female spawner infection level and temperature variation through rearing are sufficient to explain in-hatchery mortality rates and infection levels and smolt to adult return ratios (SARs) of progeny of Renibacterium salmoninarum infected spring chinook salmon. Data from published reports and manuscripts regarding a 1988 brood stock segregation experiment that held progeny of highly infected fem...