Survival of Brown Trout Eggs: Two Planting Techniques Compared

ABSTRACT: Vibert boxes are commonly used in planting trout eggs in streams for incubation. We compared survival of eggs, embryos, and swim-up fry of brown trout (Salmo trutta) in direct intragravel plants and in Vibert boxes. We found that egg mortality increased disproportionately in Vibert boxes after 4 weeks until time of hatching. Direct intragravel plants yielded the highest survival to the swim-up stage. Conservation groups and agency fisheries personnel have planted fertilized trout eggs into stream gravels to introduce, restock, or supplement populations of stream salmonids. Eggs have either been planted in box-con-tainers of some type (Vibert 1949; Anon. 1951; Rasmus-sen 1970) or deposited directly into the gravel (Stockley 1954; Sedgwick 1960). Boxes are usually used, but there are no data suggesting that this method is better than planting eggs directly in stream gravels (J. D. Mclntyre, unpublished data). The purpose of this study was to determine whether one of the two methods resulted in