Induced ovulation of female chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) at a production hatchery

A simple, low-cost method for inducing ovulation in hatchery-held adult chinook salmon was developed. Use of this method resulted in an increase in the number of eggs collected, by circumventing losses due to prespawning mortality.One hundred and twenty 4-year-old chinook salmon which had returned to the Capilano hatchery prior to 1 October were used as a stock population. Three weeks before the peak spawning period, 36 fish were divided into two groups. The control group received two injections of 0.65% saline spaced 3 days apart. The test group received a 0.1-mg/kg SG-G100 (salmon gonadotropin) injection, followed on the third day by a 2.5-mg/kg SG-G100 injection. By Day 8, 73% of the treated group and 0% of the control group had ovulated. Prespawning mortality accounted for 22% of the treated fish and 83.4% of the control fish. Treatment resulted in a net gain of 16,000 eggs over the control. The second experiment began 3 days before the peak spawning period. The 32 fish which remained in the stock population were divided into three groups and received two injections 3 days apart. The two treatment groups received either 0.1 mg SG-G100/kg followed by 2.0 mg SG-100/kg, or 0.1 mg SG-G100/kg followed by 50.0 mg salmon pituitary extract (SPE)/kg. The control group was injected with 0.65% saline. By Day 8, 73% of the SPE group, 82% of the SG-G100 group, and 40% of the control group had ovulated. Treatment resulted in a net gain of 16,000 eggs for the SG-G100 group and 19,000 eggs for the SPE group over the control. No significant differences in egg size or percent survival to the eyed stage were found between test and control groups. The misjudgment of maturity led to the stripping of several fish before their eggs were completely ovulated. The factors leading to these partial ovulations are discussed.