Environmental cues and downstream migration of anadromous brown trout (Salmo trutta) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) smolts

Several environmental cues have been suggested to govern the initiation of the downstream migration of smolts (e.g. light, temperature and discharge). Here we investigated the effect of these cues on the initiation of the downstream migration in anadromous brown trout and Atlantic salmon in a small river on the Swedish west coast during two consecutive years. The total smolt production was assessed using a smolt trap and by modelling data from standardized electrofishing. The results show that it is possible to estimate smolt numbers using electrofishing, but that the model had a tendency to overestimate the number of smolts from electrofishing as compared with that from captures with the smolt trap. Discharge had the greatest effect on downstream migration, but temperature was also important when there was no increase in discharge. These results reveal that discharge and temperature govern the initiation of downstream migration but their effect may depend on the amount of precipitation.