Return Rates of Hatchery-Produced Sea-Run Cutthroat Trout Reared in a Pond versus a Standard or Baffled Raceway

Abstract

Abstract Sea-run cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki were reared in and released from a pond with a gravel–earth bottom, a standard concrete raceway, and a raceway with baffles at the Cowlitz Trout Hatchery, Washington. Adult returns from two release years showed that significantly more fish from the rearing pond survived (3.2%) than fish reared in standard raceways (2.0%) and that significantly more fish returned from the standard raceway than from the baffled raceway (1.7%).