Density‐dependent refuge use among over‐wintering wild Atlantic salmon juveniles

• Published in: Journal of Fish Biology
• Main Authors: Armstrong, J. D., Griffiths, S. W.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2001
• Subjects: Atlantic salmon
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2001.tb02309.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1095-8649.2001.tb02309.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2001.tb02309.x

Sheltering behaviour of wild juvenile Atlantic salmon in an indoor stream was found to be density dependent; the proportion of fish sheltering decreased significantly with increasing population density. The mean number of fish occupying refugia was ≤1.5 fish per refuge even at very high densities (potentially 5 fish per shelter). These results suggest that shelter availability has potentially important consequences for the carrying capacity for natural populations of salmon in streams.