Bo. Rosseland et al., Tolerance to acid water among strains and life stages of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.), WATER A S P, 130(1-4), 2001, pp. 899-904
Reintroduction of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) after liming of acidifie
d barren salmon rivers could benefit by choosing acid tolerant strains. Tes
ting different life history stages from fry to smolts of five salmon strain
s with different acidification history demonstrated strain-specific variati
on in tolerance to acid aluminum-rich waters for stages from fry to parr. C
ontrary to expectation, salmon from non-acidified rivers were more tolerant
. Differences in sensitivity were found between life history stages. Within
a specific life history stage, size-dependent sensitivity was found; small
fish being more sensitive to pH while large fish were more sensitive to al
uminum. Presmolts showed the same relative tolerance between strains as you
nger stages. These differences disappeared, however, when the smolt reached
fall smoltification, probably due to supersensitivity at this stage. Poor
water quality during the last period of smoltification and outmigration can
thus mask the genetic potential for tolerance to acidic rivers.