Variability in the performance of juvenile Chinook salmon is explained primarily by when and where they resided in estuarine habitats

摘要: Estuarine habitats provide rearing opportunities for the juvenile life stage of anadromous fishes. Because survival is positively correlated with performance, these estuarine play an important role in population abundance and productivity. To information recovery several depressed stocks Chinook salmon Columbia River Basin, we sought to identify factors that explain variability performance. Using otolith‐derived estimates somatic growth rate as index recent observed a negative nonlinear relationship between day year, decreasing increasing trend over 8 years this study distance from river mouth respectively. generalised linear modelling approach, found was best explained by where when individuals were collected, their body size, contaminant loads, stock origin, whether fish hatchery produced or unmarked. Lastly, argue considerable improvement juveniles physiologically possible. The results 8‐year baseline performance evaluate habitat restoration programs compare against future anthropogenic conditions.