Biology 165 Student Papers Behavioral, morphological and genetic differences between hatchery-reared and wild fish populations. Supplementation of declining wild fish stocks with hatchery-reared fish has led to questions of the success of supplementation programs. Behavioral, morphological and genetic research has been conducted to reveal differences between hatchery-reared and wild fish.
Wild fish appear to have a behavioral advantage.
Morphologically, hatchery and wild fish differ, which may also be from their genetic differences. The overview of current research results presented here provide a good foundation for making suggestions to management and for accessing success of hatchery supplementation programs. Depletion of multiple fish stocks worldwide due to human fishing efforts has led to increased use of fish hatchery programs to supplement wild populations. However, hatchery fish are raised in dissimilar ways to wild fish which leads to questions of how hatchery and wild fish differ and what effects of those differences are. This paper reviews a variety of morphological, genetic and behavioral differences found between hatchery and wild and their potential effects.