Carcass selenium loss as an indicator of stress in barge transported chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Walbaum) smolts

Two salmon smolt barge transport experiments were conducted to measure tissue trace element selenium (Se) loss during the 30 h transport 500 km downriver past seven hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River. Carcass Se was measured before and after the barge trip. Liver glutathione peroxidase (GTPX) activity and total ascorbate concentrations were assayed to correlate Se loss with GTPX levels. Hatchery‐reared smolt chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum), were tested before and after barging. Liver ascorbate concentrations, measured by high‐performance liquid chromatography techniques, showed levels adequate to support GTPX activity. Salmon smolts lost up to 20% of carcass tissue Se during the 30 h barge confinement. Selenium was analysed by analytical polarography. Samples collected after two barging episodes showed Se loss and concomitant elevated liver GTPX activity after the transport. Tissue Se loss may be useful to measure stress in fish, and increasing tissue Se in hatchery salmon smolts prior to release and transport may be warranted.