Which is Salmon Fish ?

Rotting salmon carcasses transfer valuable nutrients from the ocean to the land. Scientists have traced nutrients from salmon bodies and found them in mosses, herbs, shrubs, trees, insects, song birds, bears and wolves!

Salmon have huge cultural significance
For example, in the Pacific Northwest, salmon have been a significant part of the First Nation economies, religions, and cultures of the region for millennia. Historically and today, salmon have been a primary food source for Columbia River Basin First Nations, and are a significant part of their cultural and spiritual identity.

Every time she tosses the gravel downstream, she covers the previous nest with rocks. With each new nest she makes, she will cover the prior one, protecting the eggs from predators. One female will dig a number of nests and deposit hundreds of eggs in each one. Each individual egg is about the size of a pea.

Getting around the dams is also a physical challenge. Engineers and biologists knew that salmon would need help getting around dams, but they didn't anticipate some of the other problems that would occur.

Salmon are facing a lot of threats
Salmon populations in Canada are threatened by parasites, disease, overfishing, climate change, and habitat loss. WWF-Canada is working in some key salmon habitats to try and reduce threats to these iconic and important species.

Scientists have created fish ladders and fish bypasses which they believe would help the salmon get around the dams going both to and from the ocean

1. Like WWF-Canada, salmon love both salt water and freshwater

Salmon returning to Idaho must climb many fish ladders at multiple dams. Biologists, fishery managers, and engineers continue to focus on finding ways to help young salmon. Many salmon die before they have completed their full life cycle.

Salmon are considered “anadromous” which means they live in both fresh and salt water.

Fisheries, biologists and engineers have tried many methods to help salmon, but the salmon population is still decreasing. Salmon, though, remain an important symbol for everyone living in the Pacific Northwest.

Salmon are a part of our Canadian heritage

Anyone who travels knows that Canadians are known for our smoked salmon. Pacific salmon were critical to the early development of British Columbia’s economy.

They are born in freshwater where they spend a few months to a few years (depending on the species) before moving out to the ocean. When it’s time to spawn, they head back to freshwater. Very few other fish can survive in such wide ranges of salinity, and would die if they moved between salt and fresh water the way that salmon do.

Salmon have provided food and heritage for many Americans — Native American tribes, non-Indian fishing communities, generations of sports anglers, and the general public of the Northwest who have adopted salmon as a symbol.

The commercial and recreational fisheries continue to play a role in coastal communities. It’s no wonder salmon are the official provincial fish of British Columbia

That’s because when saltwater fish are exposed to freshwater, it can cause their cells to burst. And when freshwater fish are exposed to salt water, it can cause their cells to shrivel, due to a process known as osmoregulation.

Biologists and educators hope that if more people understand these amazing fish and the reasons behind their decline, more people will understand why some new methods are being considered to help salmon!

Luckily salmon have some pretty amazing physiological and behavioral adaptations that allow them to survive in both environments.

Salmon are named after their runs
Many believe that the word “salmon” comes from the Latin word salmo or salire, which means “to leap

“The salmon are one of our best teachers. We learn from them that we have to do certain things by the seasons. We watch the salmon as smolts going to the ocean and observe them returning home. We see the many obstacles that they have to overcome.

2. After living for many years at sea, salmon travel a long distance home to return to the river in which they were born to spawn.

Salmon are named after their runs
Many believe that the word “salmon” comes from the Latin word salmo or salire, which means “to leap

At first, fish hatcheries seemed to be a great way to protect salmon species from extinction. In protected and controlled environments, millions of salmon eggs hatch and millions of salmon fry grow to smolt-hood without risk of predation.

There are many theories about how they are able to do this. Some state that salmon use the Earth’s magnetic field to guide them, while others say they use their strong sense of smell to guide them home.

all these millions of protected smolts can then be released into the rivers and the ocean to grow into salmon adults that will find their way home. That's the theory.