Variability of Family Size and Marine Survival in Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha)Has Implications for Conservation Biology and Human Use
- Authors: H.J. Geiger, W.L. Smoker, L.A. Zhivotovsky, and A.J. Gharrett
- Pub. no.: RP-98-03
- Year: 1997
- No. pages: 7
- Price: Single copies free
Description
Many fisheries science researchers view abundance as the most important population parameter, and pay little attention to how family size varies in fish populations, or how family size variation indexes the amount of genetic variation in a population. This research indicates that for pink salmon a relatively small part of the breeding population is the most productive, and the productive segment changes unpredictably. Therefore population dynamics models that incorporate only abundance do not predict decreases in stock productivity that might be caused by decreasing genetic variability. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 54(11):2684-2690, 1997.
