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Salmon is the
common name for several species of Fish of the
family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the family
are called trout. Salmon live in both the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans, as well as the Great Lakes and
other land locked lakes.
Typically, salmon are anadromous: they are born in
fresh water, migrate to the ocean, then return to
fresh water to reproduce. However, there are rare
species that can only survive in fresh water
habitats. This is most likely due to the
domestication of these certain species of Salmon.
Folklore has it that the fish return to the exact
spot where they were born to spawn.
In Alaska, the
crossing-over to other streams allows salmon to
populate new streams, such as those that emerge as a
glacier retreats. The precise method salmon use to
navigate has not been entirely established, though
their keen sense of smell is involved. In all
species of Pacific salmon, the mature individuals
die within a few days or weeks of spawning, a trait
known as semelparity. However, even in those species
of salmon that may survive to spawn more than once (iteroparity),
post-spawning mortality is quite high (perhaps as
high as 40 to 50%.)
The salmon has long been at the heart of the culture
and livelihood of coastal dwellers. Most peoples of
the Northern Pacific shore had a ceremony to honor
the first return of the year. For many centuries,
people caught salmon as they swam upriver to spawn.
A famous spearfishing site on the Columbia River at
Celilo Falls was inundated after great dams were
built on the river. The Ainu, of northern Japan,
taught dogs how to catch salmon as they returned to
their breeding grounds en masse. Now, salmon are
caught in bays and near shore.
Salmon population levels are of concern in the
Atlantic and in some parts of the Pacific but in
Alaska stocks are still abundant. Fish farming is
outlawed[citation needed] and the State of Alaska's
fisheries management system is viewed as the global
leader in the management of wild, sustainable fish
stocks. The most important Alaska Salmon wild
sustainable fisheries are located near the Kenai
River, Copper River, and in Bristol Bay. In Canada,
the Skeena River wild salmon returning which support
commercial fisheries, aboriginal food fisheries,
sports fisheries and the area's diverse wildlife on
the coast and around communities hundreds of miles
inland in the watershed. The Columbia River salmon
population is now less than 3% of what it was when
Lewis and Clark arrived at the river. Both Atlantic
and Pacific Salmon are important to recreational
fishing around the world. |
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