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Alternative models of climatic effects on sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka, productivity in Bristol Bay, Alaska, and the Fraser River, British Columbia

January 1, 1996

We compare alternative models of sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka, productivity (returns per spawner) using more than 30 years of catch and escapement data for Bristol Bay, Alaska, and the Fraser River, British Columbia. The models examined include several alternative forms of models that incorporate climatic influences as well as models not based on climate. For most stocks, a stationary stock-recruitment relationship explains very little of the interannual variation in productivity. In Bristol Bay, productivity covaries among stocks and appears to be strongly related to fluctuations in climate. The best model for Bristol Bay sockeye involved a change in the 1970s in the parameters of the Ricker stock-recruitment curve; the stocks generally became more productive. In contrast, none of the models of Fraser River stocks that we examined explained much of the variability in their productivity.

Publication Year 1996
Title Alternative models of climatic effects on sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka, productivity in Bristol Bay, Alaska, and the Fraser River, British Columbia
DOI 10.1111/j.1365-2419.1996.tb00113.x
Authors M. Adkison, R. M. Peterman, M. Lapointe, D. Gillis, J. Korman
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Fisheries Oceanography
Index ID 1012938
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Alaska Biological Science Center
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