We will hybridize female pink salmon from Auke Creek near Juneau, Alaska, with males from Buskin River on Kodiak Island. Crosses using male Auke Creek fish will be controls. Estimates of interactive effects as well as additive genetic effects for development rate and prerelease survival will be made from data taken from a factorial mating design. F1 fish will be tagged and released. The breeding experiment will be repeated on returning F2 fish to test for effects that appear after alleles have assorted in the second generation.
Information concerning the genetic impact of cultured fish on wild stocks is generally unavailable.
However, such information is essential to the future of salmonid and other resources. These experiments will provide crucial information for enhancement and management decisions. These fish were differentially finmarked. In August and September 1999, we recovered the odd-brood year F1 returns and produced an F2 generation from them, which we marked and released in spring 2000. We routinely seined both Auke Creek and Waydelich Creek to recover our experimental fish and keep them from spawning.