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Science 14 March 2003:
Vol. 299. no. 5613, pp. 1738 - 1740
DOI: 10.1126/science.1079707
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Reports

Rapid Evolution of Egg Size in Captive Salmon

Daniel D. Heath,1* John W. Heath,2 Colleen A. Bryden,3 Rachel M. Johnson,4 Charles W. Fox5

Captive breeding and release programs, widely used to supplement populations of declining species, minimize juvenile mortality to achieve rapid population growth. However, raising animals in benign environments may promote traits that are adaptive in captivity but maladaptive in nature. In chinook salmon, hatchery rearing relaxes natural selection favoring large eggs, allowing fecundity selection to drive exceptionally rapid evolution of small eggs. Trends toward small eggs are also evident in natural populations heavily supplemented by hatcheries, but not in minimally supplemented populations. Unintentional selection in captivity can lead to rapid changes in critical life-history traits that may reduce the success of supplementation or reintroduction programs.

1 Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, Canada.
2 Yellow Island Aquaculture Limited, 1681 Brook Crescent, Campbell River, British Columbia V9W 6K9, Canada.
3 AXYS Environmental Consulting Limited, 2045 Mills Road West, Sidney, British Columbia V8L 3S8, Canada.
4 Biology, College of Science and Management, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, British Columbia V2N 4Z9, Canada.
5 Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, S-225 Ag Science Center North, Lexington, KY 40546-0091, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dheath{at}uwindsor.ca

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Comment on "Rapid Evolution of Egg Size in Captive Salmon" (I).
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