Variability in straying behaviour among repeat spawning anadromous brown trout (Salmo trutta) followed over several years

Abstract Natal homing, a strategy in which individuals return to breed in the same river as they were born, is prevalent among salmonids. However, some individuals may not return to their natal river, and instead stray to non-natal rivers. To date, there is limited documentation on patterns of straying among iteroparous salmonids that have returned to spawn over multiple years. In this study, 21538 out-migrating juvenile anadromous brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) were tagged over two years with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags, and followed as they returned to either their natal or three non-natal rivers in a fjord system, over multiple years. In total, 206 individuals were detected returning for more than one year, of which 43% were strayers. A divergence in migratory strategies among strayers was documented: a smaller proportion of strayers were only detected in non-natal rivers, while the majority (67%) displayed high variability in their migratory patterns as they were detected in both their natal and non-natal rivers, sometimes within the same reproductive season. This study documents high variability in the migratory patterns of repeat spawners and high probability for them to stray, and suggests that straying is an important life-history strategy possibly affecting individual fitness.