Systematic Literature Review of Pacific Salmon Hatchery Release Strategies in Canada and the United States

This literature search returned a total of 1,123 unique references. Of these, 76 met the screening criteria, covering a broad range of release strategies from California along the coast to Alaska. Research on hatchery strategies has steadily increased over the past 50 years, with significant contributions from federal, state, provincial, and academic scientists. The majority of this work has focused on systems in Washington and Oregon, although BC was a key player in much of the early research on release strategies. Chinook have been the most commonly studied species, with a dramatic increase in research on this species in the past ten years. The most well studied strategy has been the size of subyearling and yearling smolts at release, followed by the time of release and rearing conditions.