Stock Identification of Sockeye Salmon by Means of Minisatellite DNA Variation

Abstract
Geographic variation in nuclear DNA among 10 populations of sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka was examined over the Pacific-wide distribution of the species. Nuclear DNA was restricted with the enzymes Alu I and Hae III and hybridized with three minisatellite probes. The greatest differences in allele or DNA fragment (band) frequencies with all three probes occurred between northern (Russia, western Alaska) and southern (British Columbia. Washington) populations. Variation in frequencies was also observed among the six river drainage systems examined and between populations within drainages. It was not possible to classify individual fish to specific populations with a high degree of accuracy. However, for lest samples consisting of a single population (true value. 100%), the estimated contribution of that population averaged about 89% for a 10-stock baseline. Estimates increased to about 92% when populations within drainages were pooled to determine contribution by drainage for the six drainages surveyed. Thus, the nuclear DNA variation surveyed in this study allowed reasonably accurate estimates of the percentage contributions of either individual populations or basin groups of populations to a sample, even when the analysis was applied to the coastwide or Pacific-wide distribution of sockeye salmon.

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