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Abstract

Most research comparing wild and hatchery-produced fish focuses on recently stocked individuals. As a result, these studies only investigate the behavior of naive hatchery fish, leaving a knowledge gap regarding long-term survivors. We compared the movement, space use, and survival of wild and hatchery-reared brown trout (Salmo trutta) that had survived for multiple years in a large Swedish lake (345 km2). Acoustic tracking of 38 wild and 56 naturalized, hatchery-origin trout over 4 years revealed similar weekly travel distances, sub-basin transitions, and survival rates between the groups. However, wild trout exhibited greater seasonal variability in their movement and sub-basin usage than their hatchery-reared conspecifics. These differences may reflect a reduced ability of hatchery trout to respond to environmental cues (e.g., prey availability). Our findings highlight that while hatchery-reared trout can persist in the wild, behavioral differences may influence their local ecological interactions and long-term fitness.

Keywords

acoustic telemetry; Adfluvial; Salmo trutta; salmonid; Siljan; stocking

Published in

Fisheries Management and Ecology
2025
Publisher: WILEY

SLU Authors

UKÄ Subject classification

Fish and Aquacultural Science

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.70004

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/143105