Science paper about negative hatchery breeding impact in hood river steelhead. The power and fine resolution of this research is because they identified every single return individual and their pedigree. A fine research and elegant design, but sad story of the steelhead.
Title: Genetic Effects of Captive Breeding Cause a Rapid, Cumulative Fitness Decline in the Wild by Hitoshi Araki,* Becky Cooper, Michael S. Blouin Science 5 October 2007: Vol. 318. no. 5847, pp. 100 - 103
Captive breeding is used to supplement populations of many species that are declining in the wild. The suitability of and long-term species survival from such programs remain largely untested, however. We measured lifetime reproductive success of the first two generations of steelhead trout that were reared in captivity and bred in the wild after they were released. By reconstructing a three-generation pedigree with microsatellite markers, we show that genetic effects of domestication reduce subsequent reproductive capabilities by ~40% per captive-reared generation when fish are moved to natural environments. These results suggest that even a few generations of domestication may have negative effects on natural reproduction in the wild and that the repeated use of captive-reared parents to supplement wild populations should be carefully reconsidered.
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