Genetic Variation in Early Survival of Chum Salmon Families with Respect to Seawater Temperature

The present study estimated the variation of early survival of chum salmon families with respect to temperature and size after transfer to seawater. Heritability for seawater tolerance of half-sib families was also estimated at 45 days after hatching. Gametes were collected from 6 male and 18 female chum salmon to make 18 paternal half-sib families. Seawater tests were carried out at 3, 7 and $12^{\circ}C$ of $32\%$ seawater and compared with freshwater. Survival was significantly affected by seawater temperature. The highest seawater tolerance was obtained in 45-day old chum salmon at $7^{\circ}C$ seawater and the lowest seawater tolerance was obtained at $3^{\circ}C$. Overall survivals in seawater tolerance at $32\%$ varied among families. There were significant variance in fry survival among females (P=0.0001), and among males (P=0.0001). The heritabilities of survival in seawater in chum salmon were estimated to be 0.32-0.34 for the sire components at 45 days after hatching in 1998.