Latitudinal effects on seasonal light availability and temperature result in many ecosystems experiencing coupled annual patterns of energy input (i.e., primary production) and output (i.e., respiration). Spring-fed streams in the Arctic are exceptions to this pattern, undergoing dramatic annual oscillations in light regime and primary productivity, while their thermal stability maintains many metabolic processes at constant rates. Primary production and ecosystem respiration are consequently decoupled during winter, potentially leading to energy limitation of spring stream food webs. We investigated seasonal linkages between ecosystem metabolism and growth rates and production of a top stream predator, Dolly Varden charr, in a representative spring-fed stream on the North Slope of Alaska, USA. Gross primary production ranged from 4.3 g C/m²/d during 24-hr daylight in July to 0.3 g C/m²/d during 8-hr daylight in November. During the same period, mean specific growth rates of Dolly Varden declined from 0.72% d^-1 to 0.14% d^-1, despite relatively constant temperatures. Our results suggest that maintenance of high respiration rates combines with declines in primary production during winter months, resulting in energy limitation of predators at the apex of spring stream food webs.