Factors influencing the relative fitness of hatchery and wild spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Wenatchee River, Washington, USA

Understanding the relative fitness of naturally spawning hatchery fish compared with wild fish has become an important issue in the management and conservation of salmonids. We used a DNA-based parentage analysis to measure the relative reproductive success of hatchery- and natural-origin spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the natural environment. Size and age had a large influence on male fitness, with larger and older males producing more offspring than smaller or younger individuals. Size had a significant effect on female fitness, but the effect was smaller than on male fitness. For both sexes, run time had a smaller but still significant effect on fitness, with earlier returning fish favored. Spawning location within the river had a significant effect on fitness for both sexes. Hatchery-origin fish produced about half the juvenile progeny per parent when spawning naturally than did natural-origin fish. Hatchery fish tended to be younger and return to lower areas of the watershed than wild fish, which explained some of their lower fitness.