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<br />Biological considerations <br /> <br />The primary concerns with capture and grow out of wild larval (or age-O) fish appear to <br />involve issues related to ethology (behavior) rather than to genetics. Juvenile <br />experience (or lack thereof) can have profound influence on their success in the wild <br />(Curio 1996, Maynard et al. 1995, Fleming et al. 1997). There are a multitude of <br />mechanisms that can impair survivorship, including lack of anti-predator responses, lack <br />of knowledge about feeding and food types, tendencies to be excessively active and <br />aggressive, characteristic drops in condition factor after release, and lack of abilities to <br />home to natal areas or knowledge of migratory routes. <br /> <br />In addition to behavioral concerns, some potential exists for a form of domestication to <br />occur. It is sometimes mistakenly viewed that domestication selection can be avoided if <br />there is no mortality in culture (Waples 1999). However, fish held in captivity will have <br />natural selection regimes relaxed, which can lead to problems with domestication <br />(Busack and Currens 1995, Waples 1999, Brown and Day 2002). For instance, <br />mortality of humpback chub in the wild occurs, meaning that wild selection is occurring <br />(surviving floods, predation, disease, etc.). By transferring fish into a hatchery <br />environment during this period of their life history, this wild selection is removed. <br />Temporary relaxation of wild selection may not lead to genetic change within the captive <br />population, provided hatchery mortality is kept to zero, but it does lead to genetic <br />change compared with the high mortality in the early life history stages in wild <br />populations (Waples 1999). Some level of genetic change relative to the natural <br />population cannot be avoided in a cultured population (Waples 1999). Therefore, we <br />suggest that it is important to reduce (to the maximum extent possible) the time that fish <br />are held in captivity. <br /> <br />Another important goal is to minimize post-release mortality. Poor survival of hatchery- <br />reared fish is a major concern, and greatly reduces the ability of using hatchery stocks <br />to supplement wild production, whether for commercial or conservation purposes <br />(Maynard et al. 1995, Olla et al. 1988, Brown and Day 2002). Generally, larger fish <br />have a higher survival rate (Brown and Day 2002). All factors being equal, one might <br />assume that survival of 200 mm fish would be greater than survival of 150 mm fish. <br />However, increased time spent under hatchery regimes leads to behavioral issues of <br />fish. Even under optimal conditions, fish will be held under unnatural conditions for a <br />substantial portion of their lives (- 1 year or more). This will have impacts on anti- <br />predator responses, feeding ability and possibly other factors related to migration and <br />spawning behavior (Paszkowski and Olla 1985, Usher et al. 1991, Howell 1994, Brown <br />and Laland 2001, Brown and Day 2002). <br /> <br />What size fish should be collected, how, from where, and when? <br /> <br />A basic premise in fisheries ecology is that survival rates increase with age (e.g., Table <br />1), and that removal of individuals from a population should be expected to have the <br />least impact upon the population at increasingly younger life stages. For example, <br /> <br />25 <br />