Differences in oxygen and carbon stable isotope ratios between hatchery and wild pink salmon fry

We examined differences in otolith oxygen (δ18Ootolith) and carbon (δ13Cotolith) stable isotope ratios between hatchery and wild pink salmon fry. The δ18Ootolith values of hatchery and wild fry were −7.7 ± 0.2 ‰ and −8.3 ± 0.3 ‰ (1σ), respectively. This difference reflected differences in temperature conditions experienced by each fry. The δ13Cotolith values of hatchery and wild fry were −19.2 ± 0.3 ‰ and −11.1 ± 1.8 ‰ (1σ), respectively. The lower δ13Cotolith values of hatchery fry were probably related to their intake of artificial diets. Discriminant analysis of δ18Ootolith and δ13Cotolith values demonstrated a highly significant difference between hatchery and wild fry with 95.8 % classification accuracy. Therefore, analysis of δ18Ootolith and δ13Cotolith precipitated in the fry stage may be useful for discriminating the origin of returning adult pink salmon. The discrimination method for returning adult fish would provide important information for evaluating the effect of hatchery release and their impact on the wild population.