In this study, we documented the breeding system of a wild population of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) by genetically sampling every returning adult and assessed the determinants of individual fitness. We then quantified the impacts of catch and release (C&R) on mating and reproductive success. Both sexes showed high variance in individual reproductive success, and the estimated standardized variance was higher for males (2.86) than for females (0.73). We found a weak positive relationship between body size and fitness and observed that fitness was positively correlated with the number of mates, especially in males. Mature male parr sired 44% of the analysed offspring. The impact of C&R on the number of offspring was size dependent, as the reproductive success of larger fish was more impaired than smaller ones. Also, there was an interactive negative effect of water temperature and air exposure time on reproductive success of C&R salmon. This study improves our understanding of the complex reproductive biology of the Atlantic salmon and is the first to investigate the impact of C&R on reproductive success. Our study expands the management toolbox of appropriate C&R practices that promote conservation of salmon populations and limit negative impacts on mating and reproductive success.
While nonanadromous males (stream-resident and/or mature male parr) contribute to reproduction in anadromous salmonids, little is known about their impacts on key population genetic parameters. Here, we evaluated the contribution of Atlantic salmon mature male parr to the effective number of breeders (Nb) using both demographic (variance in reproductive success) and genetic (linkage disequilibrium) methods, the number of alleles, and the relatedness among breeders. We used a recently published pedigree reconstruction of a wild anadromous Atlantic salmon population in which 2548 fry born in 2010 were assigned parentage to 144 anadromous female and 101 anadromous females that returned to the river to spawn in 2009 and to 462 mature male parr. Demographic and genetic methods revealed that mature male parr increased population Nb by 1.79 and 1.85 times, respectively. Moreover, mature male parr boosted the number of alleles found among progenies. Finally, mature male parr were in average less related to anadromous females than were anadromous males, likely because of asynchronous sexual maturation between mature male parr and anadromous fish of a given cohort. By increasing Nb and allelic richness, and by decreasing inbreeding, the reproductive contribution of mature male parr has important evolutionary and conservation implications for declining Atlantic salmon populations.
With the decline of many exploited fish populations, catch and release has become an increasingly used management practice to allow sport fishing while reducing its impact on wild populations. However, survival and reproductive success can vary according to the catch and release technique and environmental conditions, suggesting a potential impact of this practice on prespawning behaviour. Here we evaluate how some critical aspects of salmon freshwater migration are influenced by catch and release and by environmental factors. For this purpose, 40 multi-sea-winter Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) (20 catch and release and 20 control) were followed by telemetry from June 2011 to March 2012. Temperature was found to influence movements and the daily probability that a fish would cross a fish ladder, while water discharge influenced daily distance travelled during the prespawning migration. Catch and release was found to influence the daily probability of fish to cross a barrier as well as the total distance traveled in the river. Overall, this study suggests that salmon caught and released by fishermen survive and reproduce, but that prespawning exploration behaviours could be altered compared with those of uncaught salmon.
Tall fescue might be an alternative to timothy in northeastern North America because of its tolerance of recurring drought periods and its good summer regrowth, but is not always considered as an option in dairy rations because of its possible lack of palatability. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects on the performance of lactating dairy cows of (1) replacing timothy silage by tall fescue silage, offered as sole forage in the diet or in combination with alfalfa silage, and (2) feeding tall fescue as silage (35% dry matter, DM) or haylage (55% DM). Experimental diets with a forage-to-concentrate ratio of 70:30 were (1) 100% timothy silage (TS); (2) 100% tall fescue silage (TFS);(3) 55:45 timothy: alfalfa silages (TS + AS); (4) 55:45 tall fescue: alfalfa silages (TFS + AS); and (5) 100% tall fescue haylage (TFH). Fifteen Holstein cows in midlactation (5 fitted with a rumen fistula) were randomly assigned to treatments in a triple 5 × 5 Latin square design with treatment periods of 21 d. Preplanned contrasts were timothy versus tall fescue silages, sole grass species versus grass-alfalfa, interaction between sole grass species and grass-alfalfa, and TFS versus TFH. Grass species did not affect dry matter intake (DMI) or milk yield and fat concentration. Milk protein concentration was not affected by grass species when offered in combination with alfalfa, but it was higher with the TS diet than the TFS diet when offered as sole forages. Adding alfalfa to either tall fescue or timothy silage resulted in greater DMI and milk yield, but lower milk fat concentration, than when the grass silages were the sole forage in the diet. The molar proportion of propionate in the rumen was greater when cows were fed diets with tall fescue silage compared with timothy silage, which resulted in a lower acetate-to-propionate ratio.Milk fat concentrations of fatty acids from microbial origin, namely branched-chain fatty acids, were greater when grass silage, and especially timothy silage, were fed as sole forages rather than with alfalfa silage. Feeding TFH rather than TFS caused a decrease in DMI and tended to lower milk protein concentration, but did not affect milk yield. A more fibrolytic fermentation profile was observed in rumen of cows fed TFH compared with TFS, as indicated by the increase in the molar proportion of acetate and the higher acetateto-propionate ratio in rumen fluid, and a concomitant increase in branched-chain fatty acid concentration in milk fat. Tall fescue as silage or haylage is a valuable alternative to timothy silage for lactating dairy cows.
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