Does size matter? A test of size-specific mortality in Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts tagged with acoustic transmitters

Newton, M.; Barry, J.; Dodd, J.A.; Lucas, M.C.; Boylan, P.; Adams, C.E.

doi:10.1111/jfb.13066

Does size matter? A test of size-specific mortality in Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts tagged with acoustic transmitters

Newton, M.; Barry, J.; Dodd, J.A.; Lucas, M.C.; Boylan, P.; Adams, C.E.

Authors

M. Newton

J. Barry

J.A. Dodd

Professor Martyn Lucas m.c.lucas@durham.ac.uk
Professor

P. Boylan

C.E. Adams

Abstract

Mortality rates of wild Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts implanted with acoustic transmitters were assessed to determine if mortality was size dependent. The routinely accepted, but widely debated, ‘2% transmitter mass: body mass’ rule in biotelemetry was tested by extending the transmitter burden up to 12·7% of body mass in small [mean fork length (LF) 138·3 mm, range 115–168 mm] downstream migrating S. salar smolts. Over the short timescale of emigration (range 11·9–44·5 days) through the lower river and estuary, mortality was not related to S. salar size, nor was a relationship found between mortality probability and transmitter mass: body mass or transmitter length: LF ratios. This study provides further evidence that smolt migration studies can deviate from the ‘2% rule’ of thumb, to more appropriate study-specific measures, which enables the use of fishes representative of the body size in natural populations without undue effects.

Citation

Newton, M., Barry, J., Dodd, J., Lucas, M., Boylan, P., & Adams, C. (2016). Does size matter? A test of size-specific mortality in Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts tagged with acoustic transmitters. Journal of Fish Biology, 89(3), 1641-1650. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13066

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	May 23, 2016
Online Publication Date	Jun 28, 2016
Publication Date	Jun 28, 2016
Deposit Date	Aug 23, 2016
Publicly Available Date	Jun 28, 2017
Journal	Journal of Fish Biology
Print ISSN	0022-1112
Electronic ISSN	1095-8649
Publisher	Wiley
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	89
Issue	3
Pages	1641-1650
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13066

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Copyright Statement
This is the accepted version of the following article: Newton, M., Barry, J., Dodd, J. A., Lucas, M. C., Boylan, P. and Adams, C. E. (2016), Does size matter? A test of size-specific mortality in Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts tagged with acoustic transmitters. Journal of Fish Biology, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13066. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.