Offshore ocean dispersal of adult Dolly Varden Salvelinus malma in the Beaufort Sea

Courtney, Michael B.; Scanlon, Brendan S.; Brown, Randy J.; Rikardsen, Audun H.; Gallagher, Colin P.; Seitz, Andrew C.

doi:10.1007/s00300-017-2246-5

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…; Courtney et al. ), will lead to an improved understanding of the life history, capacity for monitoring populations, and ability to identify potential impacts of human activities and environmental changes over time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Insights into the Biology of Anadromous Dolly Varden in the Canning River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

2018

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Anadromous Dolly Varden Salvelinus malma in northeastern Alaska migrate to sea during the summer to feed but must overwinter in rivers because the sea under ice becomes too cold for salmonids. Flow ceases in rivers during the winter except for a few perennial springs in which all fish congregate. The Canning River is one of the largest rivers in the area with numerous perennial springs that support Dolly Varden during the winter. It also marks the western boundary of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as it flows across the coastal plain to the Beaufort Sea. We sought to improve our understanding of habitat use, migration timing, survival, and interdrainage exchange of Dolly Varden in the Canning River to improve management efforts to minimize the environmental impacts of potential hydrocarbon resource development in the area. To achieve these objectives, we deployed 210 radio tags in mature Dolly Varden during 2014 and 2015 and then determined their seasonal locations with aerial surveys of the Canning River and other nearby rivers and with a radio receiver located in the lower Canning River. Dolly Varden spawned and overwintered in several areas of the main stem and in perennial springs in the upper reaches of the drainage. Nonspawning fish occupied similar main-stem habitats during the winter, but did not migrate into upstream reaches. Migration to sea occurred during a brief period in early to mid-June, while fish returned to the river in small numbers over the next 3 months. The estimated annual survival of nonspawners (0.62) was significantly greater than that for postspawners (0.34). Survival in freshwater during winter was significantly greater than that in marine environments during the summer for both demographic groups. The interdrainage exchange rate was estimated to be 0.37. These data enhance our understanding of annual cycles of Dolly Varden habitat use, migration, and population dynamics.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Insights into the Biology of Anadromous Dolly Varden in the Canning River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

2018

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“…This is because of F I G U R E 6 Length distribution for six fish species in each of three periods from Beaufort Sea, Alaska, USA. Fill color denotes time period (blue, 1988-1991; orange, 2003-2005; red, 2017-2019) Dolly Varden are notable for their life history plasticity and facultative use of marine feeding that ranges from a complete absence of marine feeding (i.e., freshwater resident form) to annual migrations that can occur any time after 1-5 years of freshwater residency (Armstrong & Morrow, 1980;Brown et al, 2019;Courtney et al, 2018;Decicco, 1992;Gallagher et al, 2020;Underwood et al, 1996). Even when Dolly Varden makes marine feeding migrations, their feeding in the Beaufort Sea is restricted and closer to shore in cold years with more sea ice (Gallagher et al, 2021).…”

Section: Arctic-boreal Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Borealization of nearshore fishes on an interior Arctic shelf over multiple decades

Biela

Laske

Stanek

et al. 2023

Global Change Biology

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Borealization is a type of community reorganization where Arctic specialists are replaced by species with more boreal distributions in response to climatic warming. The process of borealization is often exemplified by the northward range expansions and subsequent proliferation of boreal species on the Pacific and Atlantic inflow Arctic shelves (i.e., Bering/Chukchi and Barents seas, respectively). But the circumpolar nearshore distribution of Arctic-boreal fishes that predates recent warming suggests borealization is possible beyond inflow shelves. To examine this question, we revisited two nearshore lagoons in the eastern Alaska Beaufort Sea (Kaktovik and Jago lagoons, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, USA), a High Arctic interior shelf. We compared summer fish species assemblage, catch rate, and size distribution among three periods that spanned a 30-year record (baseline conditions, 1988-1991; moderate sea ice decline, 2003-2005; rapid sea ice decline, 2017-2019). Fish assemblages differed among periods in both lagoons, consistent with borealization.Among Arctic specialists, a clear decline in fourhorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus quadricornis, Kanayuq in Iñupiaq) occurred in both lagoons with 86%-90% lower catch rates compared with the baseline period. Among the Arctic-boreal species, a dramatic 18to 19-fold increase in saffron cod (Eleginus gracilis, Uugaq) occurred in both lagoons.Fish size (length) distributions demonstrated increases in the proportion of larger fish for most species examined, consistent with increasing survival and addition of ageclasses. These field data illustrate borealization of an Arctic nearshore fish community during a period of rapid warming. Our results agree with predictions that Arctic-boreal fishes (e.g., saffron cod) are well positioned to exploit the changing Arctic ecosystem.Another Arctic-boreal species, Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma, Iqalukpik), appear to have already responded to warming by shifting from Arctic nearshore to shelf waters. More broadly, our findings suggest that areas of borealization could be widespread in the circumpolar nearshore.

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“…In the spring (May-June), anadromous fish travel down the RR and Mackenzie Delta (via Husky and West channels) (~317 river km) to the Beaufort Sea [31], a round trip of up to ~690 river km (Fig 1). Dolly Varden of RR origins have been confidently detected in coastal subsistence fisheries as far west as ~64 km from the Mackenzie Delta (mouth of West Channel) at Shingle Point, Yukon (assuming fish followed the coastline, i.e., coastal km; [32]) [27] (Fig 1), although further distances are conceivable given the possible dispersal into offshore habitat [33]. Upon the return migration (typically end of July to mid-September), Dolly Varden are captured in subsistence fisheries in the Mackenzie Delta at the hamlet of Aklavik, along Husky Channel, near the mouth of the RR, and in the lower reach of the RR (Fig 1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migration tactics affect spawning frequency in an iteroparous salmonid (Salvelinus malma) from the Arctic

et al. 2018

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Otolith strontium and multi-year mark-recapture information were used to characterize associations between migration patterns and spawning frequencies in an anadromous Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) population (Rat River, Northwest Territories, Canada) that undertakes a long migration between freshwater spawning/overwintering (Fish Creek; a tributary to Rat River) and marine feeding habitats (Beaufort Sea) (~800 km round trip). Reconstructions of lifetime annual migration histories among otolith annuli was matched to information on reproductive status (current-year ‘spawner’ or ‘non-spawner’) that was known in two different, sometimes successive, years for each fish. Two migratory life histories were observed: fish either migrated annually after smoltification or periodically skipped an annual ocean migration to remain in freshwater and spawn. Different spawning frequencies were detected where fish not migrating annually tended to spawn in alternate years (84.6%) more often than those migrating annually (50%). Additionally, annually migrating fish had lower longevity (≤9 years vs. ≤13 years). The evaluation of differences in spawning frequency between sexes, independent of migration tactic, revealed males (84.6%) skipped spawning more often than females (51.2%) suggesting fitness trade-offs between life histories differ between sexes. Further, some fish returned from the sea considerably earlier than the majority of other current-year migrants. Our findings demonstrate intrapopulation diversity in migration behaviour and reproductive frequency.

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Offshore ocean dispersal of adult Dolly Varden Salvelinus malma in the Beaufort Sea

Cited by 14 publications

References 22 publications

New Insights into the Biology of Anadromous Dolly Varden in the Canning River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

New Insights into the Biology of Anadromous Dolly Varden in the Canning River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

Borealization of nearshore fishes on an interior Arctic shelf over multiple decades

Migration tactics affect spawning frequency in an iteroparous salmonid (Salvelinus malma) from the Arctic

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