Stocking impact and allozyme diversity in brown trout from Mediterranean southern France

Analysis of trout from 13 stations on the Mediterranean slopes of the French Pyrenees by 31 presumptive enzyme loci demonstrated the major impact of restocking programmes. Although the annual introgression resulting from these introductions was small, the accumulation of genes of Atlantic origin has resulted in a change in allele frequencies. Genetic disequilibria within and between loci exist. Introgression by genes of domestic (hatchery) origin varied from 0 to 77% among stations. Natural Mediterranean populations show no detectable geographical structure. There was a direct relation between the degree of introgression and heterozygosity. However, restocking could not explain all of the observed genetic disequilibria.