H. Mason Keeler Professorship in Sports Fisheries Management
Professor, Aquatic & Fishery Sciences
tquinn@u.washington.edu, 206-543-9042

Student Services • Faculty List • SAFS Publications

fish behavior, ecology and evolution

• Courses
• CV
• Publications
• Research
• Alaska Salmon Program
• Students
• Home

Research

Salmon Migration and Orientation

For many years, I have been interested in salmon migration, orientation and homing. Research in this area has continued on several fronts. We have conducted experiments on the relationships between sexual maturation, reproductive hormones, and homing by adult coho salmon. Experimental results with University of Washington coho and chinook salmon indicate that endocrine processes linked to maturation and spawning also influence the motivation to home to the UW hatchery and also influence the sensitivity of the olfactory system to odors learned prior to seaward migration, years earlier. This work involves Andrew Dittman, post-doctoral fellow, Walton Dickhoff (faculty), Penny Swanson (research scientist, National Marine Fisheries Service), and Jon Dickey (graduate student), with support from the National Marine Fisheries Service.

We have also been examining the phenomenon of straying by studying the behavior of adult sockeye salmon that enter the UW hatchery. The hatchery does not produce sockeye, hence all such individuals are strays. We have displaced them from the hatchery, along with native chinook salmon for comparison, to see if they return a second time. These experiments have enabled us to estimate the proportions of the strays that are only "exploring" when they enter, as distinguished from strays that show persistent attraction to non-natal water. This work has involved Andrew Hendry (graduate student) and Jason Griffith (undergraduate student).

Finally, we have examined the patterns of migratory timing by adult American shad and sockeye salmon in the Columbia River with respect to the long-term changes in the river's temperature and flow regimes. The lower river’s summer temperature regime is warmer than it was in past decades and the flow is greatly reduced. These environmental changes have been associated with much earlier arrival of shad at Bonneville Dam and slightly earlier arrival of sockeye salmon. Sockeye salmon migration rate to the upper reaches of the river is also faster than in past years.

New Zealand Chinook Salmon Evolution

We have been studying the rate at which salmon populations evolve, by examining the genetic and phenotypic traits of chinook salmon introduced to New Zealand at the turn of the century. We are conducting a large, controlled breeding and rearing program to determine the genetic basis of life history differences observed among populations within New Zealand, and are also comparing the New Zealand chinook salmon to the ancestral population from Battle Creek, California. We spawned representatives of two New Zealand populations in 1994 and have been rearing their progeny to maturity under common, controlled conditions. We also released representatives from both populations to sea from each of two different hatcheries. These experimental groups will enable us to determine the genetic basis for a variety of adult traits including egg size, fecundity, age and size at maturity, date of migration and spawning within the year of maturation, morphology, energy content, as well as juvenile traits including rate of embryonic development, growth and seawater tolerance.

Interactions Between Wild and Hatchery-Produced Salmonids

We have begun studies in Forks Creek (Willapa River system), examining the patterns of habitat use, movements, growth and survival of wild and hatchery-produced coho salmon and steelhead trout. This work employs a variety of techniques including radio-tracking, laboratory behavior tests, field experiments, and DNA fingerprinting. We are studying the spawning timing and habitat use of wild and hatchery-produced steelhead to determine the potential for interbreeding and competition, and are fingerprinting juvenile steelhead to determine the reproductive success of wild and hatchery-produced parents spawning in the wild. We are also studying differences in aggression and territorial behavior between juvenile coho salmon reared in the wild and in a hatchery, and the ways in which such behavioral differences may affect the growth, habitat use, movements, and survival of such fish in the wild.

Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon Life History and Behavior

As part of a long-term program whose goal is to understand the basic and applied ecology of Bristol Bay sockeye salmon and their habitats, research is being carried out on the life history patterns, population structure, ecology and behavior of sockeye in a number of streams and lakes in western Alaska. My students and I have been conducting studies of the life history traits, spawning site characteristics, reproductive behavior, energetics, and predator-prey interactions of sockeye salmon. Specific projects have examined: (1) the physical habitat features of island beaches that make them suitable for spawning by sockeye salmon in Iliamna Lake, (2) the relationships between stream entry date, body size, population density, energetics and longevity of adult sockeye salmon in small streams, (3) the influences of habitat, body size, and sex on vulnerability of adult sockeye salmon to predation by bears, and (4) the use of natural variation in otolith microstructure to determine the origin of sockeye salmon, enabling us to study homing and straying patterns between certain spawning sites.