Publications by authors named "Melinda C Jacobs-Scott"

Multiple dam passage during seaward migration is thought to reduce the subsequent survival of Snake River Chinook salmon. This hypothesis developed because juvenile Chinook salmon from the Snake River, the Columbia River's largest tributary, migrate >700 km through eight hydropower dams and have lower adult return rates than downstream populations that migrate through only 3 or 4 dams. Using a large-scale telemetry array, we tested whether survival of hatchery-reared juvenile Snake River spring Chinook salmon is reduced in the estuary and coastal ocean relative to a downstream, hatchery-reared population from the Yakima River.

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Many juvenile Snake River Chinook salmon are transported downriver to avoid hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River basin. As mortality to the final dam is ∼50%, transported fish should return as adults at roughly double the rate of nontransported fish; however, the benefit of transportation has not been realized consistently. "Delayed" mortality caused by transportation-induced stress is one hypothesis to explain reduced returns of transported fish.

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