Comment on “Egg consumption in mature Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.)”Appears in Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 66(9): 1546–1553.

In their recent article, “Egg consumption in mature Pacific salmon ( Oncorhynchus spp.)” (Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 66(9): 1546–1553), Garner et al. observed salmon eggs in the stomach contents of mature Chinook, coho, and chum salmon. Through experimentation and simulation of salmon energetics, the authors conclude that the observed feeding represents an important gain in energy, challenging the accepted paradigm that assumes salmon energy budgets contain no gains once adults return to freshwater. Here, I argue that Garner et al. have overestimated the energetic consequence of egg consumption and that the observed consumption rates do not represent biologically significant gains in energy.