Algonquin Provincial Park is a fisherman’s paradise of lakes stocked generations ago with hatchery salmon and trout. | Photo by Dylan Fraser
Fishing for results
Under the leadership of biology professor Dylan Fraser, the research team — which included Concordia graduate student Andrew Harbicht and research scientist Chris Wilson from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry — headed to Algonquin Provincial Park, a fisherman’s paradise of lakes stocked generations ago with hatchery salmon and trout.
The team transplanted combinations of wild, domesticated and hybridized populations of Algonquin Park vbrook trout to new environments. The researchers then compared survival rates and physical characteristics to determine whether hybridization affects a fish’s potential to adapt after multiple generations of natural selection in the wild.
It turns out that within five to 11 generations of fish (about 25 to 50 years), the foreign genes introduced into wild populations through hybridization are removed by natural selection. That means fish populations previously bolstered by hatchery stock are, genetically speaking, indistinguishable from purely wild populations.
The implications for conservation
Fraser, himself an avid fisherman, says these results provide hope for wild populations that were initially negatively affected by human-induced hybridization.
“If we can stop the incoming flow of foreign genes while maintaining an environment similar to what was there pre-hybridization, wild populations are likely to recover — possibly in less time than previously thought,” he says.
And it looks like that’s true for more than just fish. Similar conclusions have recently been made about wolf species previously exposed to hybridization.
Partners in research: This study was made possible by the collaboration of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources staff, and funding from the Fonds québecois de la recherche sur la nature et la technologie.
