TITLE:
Exercise and Structure Improve Juvenile Chinook Salmon Rearing Performance
AUTHORS:
Jill M. Voorhees, Nathan Huysman, Eric Krebs, Michael E. Barnes
KEYWORDS:
Environmental Enrichment, Salmonid, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, Vertically-Suspended
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Marine Science,
Vol.11 No.2,
April
25,
2021
ABSTRACT: This experiment evaluated the use of an exercise routine and
vertically-sus-pended structure during juvenile landlocked fall
Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha; mean ± SE, initial weight
1.47 ± 0.03 g, total length 56.4 ± 0.4 mm) rearing. Four treatments were used:
1) no exercise routine nor vertically-suspended
structure, 2) exercise and structure, 3) exercise and no structure, and 4) no exercise and structure. Water velocities in tanks without exercise were 12 cm/s,
where-as the exercise routine consisted of seven days at 12 cm/s followed by
seven days at 18 cm/s. The structure was an array consisting of four
vertically-suspended aluminum angles. Total tank gain and percent gain were
significantly greater after 50 days in the tanks of salmon subjected to the
exercise routine and structure compared to the three other treatments. Gain and percent gain
were also significantly greater in the tanks receiving structure without
exercise compared to tanks with exercise and no structure or tanks with neither
exercise nor structure. Feed conversion ratio was significantly improved in the salmon tanks with structure and without exercise compared to all other
treatments. There were no significant differences for individual fish weight, total length, specific growth
rate, or condition factor among any of the treatments at the end of the
experiment. These results indicate
that the use of both an exercise routine and vertically-suspended structure may
be beneficial during the rearing of juvenile landlocked fall Chinook salmon.