Body condition of returning Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. correlates with scale δ 13 C and δ 15 N content deposited at the last marine foraging location

Abstract

Patterns of feeding and growth of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. in the marine environment are critical to understanding how observed declines in recruitment may reflect warming or other oceanic drivers. The isotopic composition of scales can provide insight into differences in marine feeding location and possibly temperature regime. The authors used archived scale samples to measure δ 13 C and δ 15 N deposited in the scales of one sea‐winter (1SW) salmon during their last season of growth at sea before they returned to five Irish rivers. δ 13 C values were related statistically to observed salmon body condition (Fulton’s K), and fish with higher δ 13 C values tended to show significantly better condition. In contrast, δ 15 N values were negatively related to body condition. There was no important effect on condition of length at smolt migration, and the effect of duration of marine residence varied among rivers. It is likely that δ 13 C values partly reflected ambient ocean temperature and recent marine feeding environment before return migration, such that the observed relationship between higher δ 13 C values and increased body condition may express an advantage for adult fish feeding in warmer, potentially closer, waters. If greater body condition influences fitness, then a changing temperature regime in the Northeast Atlantic may drive shifts in salmon survival and reproduction. This study provides evidence that there is spatial and trophic variation at sea between salmon from rivers of origin that are located relatively close to each other, with potential consequences for body condition and, consequently, fitness and life history; this suggests that salmon populations from geographically proximate rivers within regions may exhibit differential responses to ocean‐scale climatic changes across the Northeast Atlantic.

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