Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

SS46 Anadromous Fish as Links Between Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems (Spatial and Temporal Connections)

Date: Friday, February 16, 2001, Time: 9:15:00 AM

Location: Sandia/Santa Ana

Soto, D, , Universidad Austral, Puerto Montt, Chile, dsoto@uach.cl

Jara, F, , Environment Consultants, Puerto Montt, Chile, fjara@telsur.cl

Arismendi, I, , Universidad Austral de Chile, Puerto Montt, Chile, iarismen@puerto.uach.cl

SALMON RUNS AND USE OF WATER WAYS IN SOUTHERN CHILE: ECOSYSTEMIC DISRUPTION??

Salmon are not native to the Southern Hemisphere, they have been introduced for sport fishing or aquaculture in southern Chile. Species, which could potentially develop anadromus runs are: rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), coho Oncorhynchus kisutch, Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, and chinook O. tshawytscha. Of those, coho and salar are mostly landlocked, spawning within lake basins where they could represent up to 50% of total fish biomass, often overriding native species. Further south, coho presents anadromous runs in the XI Region (44° - 49° Lat. S), while chinook presents the largest spawning runs observed, connecting both Chilean and Argentinian trans-Andean basins In some rivers such as Petrohue (41°14´S), concentrated biomass from spent spawners, and further decaying corpses, may produce disruptions to such pristine ecosystem through nutrient inputs and further biological interactions. Sport fishermen, for whom introduced salmonids are becoming an additional input, are also internalizing the anadromous behavior.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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