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ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access originally published online on April 17, 2009
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2009 66(5):844-859; doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsp096
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© 2009 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Published by Oxford Journals. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Empirical analyses of the length, weight, and condition of adult Atlantic salmon on return to the Scottish coast between 1963 and 2006

P. J. Bacon1, S. C. F. Palmer2, J. C. MacLean3, G. W. Smith3, B. D. M. Whyte3, W. S. C. Gurney1,4 and A. F. Youngson1

1 FRS Freshwater Laboratory, Faskally, Pitlochry PH16 5LB, UK
2 Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Zoology Building, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, UK
3 FRS Freshwater Laboratory, Inchbraoch House, South Quay, Ferryden, Montrose, Angus DD10 9SL, UK
4 Department of Statistics and Modelling Science, Livingstone Tower, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XH, UK

Correspondence to P. J. Bacon: tel: +44 61224 294442; fax: +44 1796 473523; e-mail: baconpj{at}marlab.ac.uk.

Bacon, P. J., Palmer, S. C. F., MacLean, J. C., Smith, G. W., Whyte, B. D. M., Gurney, W. S. C., and Youngson, A. F. 2009. Empirical analyses of the length, weight, and condition of adult Atlantic salmon on return to the Scottish coast between 1963 and 2006. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 844–859.

Sea age, size, and condition of adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) are prime determinants of individual, and hence population, productivity. To elucidate potential mechanisms, 151 000 records of salmon returning to six Scottish coastal sites over 44 years were analysed for length, weight, and condition, by site, sex, sea age, and river age. After correcting for capture effort biases, all sites showed seasonal increases in length and weight for both 1 sea winter (1SW) and 2SW fish. However, whereas condition increased slightly with season for 2SW, it decreased notably for 1SW. Sites showed common decadal trends in length, weight, and condition. Within years, length and weight residuals from trends were coherent across sites, but residuals from condition trends were not. Rates of seasonal condition change also showed decadal trends, dramatically different between sea ages, but common across sites within sea-age groups. Longer salmon were disproportionately heavy in all seasons. 1SW condition was markedly lower in 2006. Detrended correlations with oceanic environmental variables were generally not significant, and always weak. A published correlation between the condition of 1SW salmon caught at a single site and sea surface temperatures in the Northeast Atlantic could not be substantiated for any of the six fisheries over the wider time-scales examined.

Keywords: climate change, condition, marine environment, NAO, Salmo salar, sea surface temperature

Received 5 November 2008; accepted 13 March 2009; advance access publication 17 April 2009.


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