Current and predicted ecological impacts of climate change to Atlantic salmon freshwater productivity in the North Atlantic.
Determining early marine survival and predation by endothermic predators on acoustically tagged Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) post-smolts.
Atlantic salmon populations in North America and Europe have been declining for decades.
Marine mammal predation during their early life in the ocean might be a key reason for this decline, but it's hard to measure how much predation happens.
This study used acoustic telemetry to estimate how much mesothermic and endothermic predators contribute to salmon mortality.
Tagged salmon were tracked to see changes in temperature and depth, indicating predation. No salmon were eaten by mesothermic predators, and most endothermic predation was by marine mammals.
Overall, post-smolt mortality was low (13.1%-16.7%) with marine mammals responsible for 33.1%-42.9% of this (5.2%-5.6% mortality).
The study suggests that recent low returns of adult salmon are not significantly affected by marine mammal predation on post-smolts in their early ocean life.