Migratory contingents of brown trout reveal variable exposure to anthropogenic threats along a fjord-river continuum

Abstract

Brown trout is a partially migratory salmonid that makes use of diverse habitats to maximise growth and fitness. One of the most substantial threats to brown trout is infection with pathogens from open net-pen fish farming, which creates hotspots for pathogen reproduction and transmission. Western Norway is a global hotspot for both fish farming and wild salmonids, which generates conflicts due to the impacts of the farms on the behaviour, survival, and fitness of salmonids that overlap with farming activities. In this study, we tagged adult brown trout (>35 cm) at two spatiotemporal intervals that corresponded to two different life history stages: springtime in the river when trout were completing overwintering and summer in the fjord when trout were in their marine feeding phase. The tagging revealed three different behaviours, fish that remained in freshwater, fish that migrated between freshwater and the fjord, and fish that remained in the estuary. Although some trout moved >100 km to the outer fjord areas, most trout remained relatively close to the river. Depth sensor transmitters in a subset of trout also revealed that the trout remained in the upper water column. Most of the horizontal and vertical movements therefore resulted in spatial overlap with fish farming for the migratory trout, but not for resident trout that remained in the estuary or in freshwater. Findings reveal the challenges of managing a fish with such behavioural plasticity but the urgency of recognising how important inner fjord habitats are for migratory brown trout.