Pacific Salmon - Sierra Club BC
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Pacific Salmon

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Pacific Salmon

Haliaeetus leucocephalus 

Appearance

Pacific salmon are large fish, in various colours from silver and grey with dark spots or fins. The largest Pacific salmon, chinook, can weigh up to 36 kilograms. There are six species of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus genus): chinook, chum, coho, pink, sockeye, and steelhead. 

Range & Habitat

Pacific salmon are found in the ocean and in rivers and streams from Alaska to California.  

Reciprocal Relationships

The Pacific salmon plays a vital role in maintaining our ecosystem balance in British Columbia. Salmon spend their adult life in the ocean and migrate up streams and rivers to spawn (lay eggs). Most salmon die once they have spawned and steelhead are the only salmon able to spawn more than once. In the streams, eggs are buried in gravel nests called “redds”.  After the eggs hatch, the baby salmon (which start as alevins, and grow into fry, parrs and then smolts) remain in freshwater streams or lakes up to two years prior to swimming to the ocean. Once at sea, they migrate varying distances, staying in the ocean for up to several years. In the ocean, Pacific salmon are eaten by larger fish and sharks. In streams and rivers eagles, black bears and grizzly bears will eat the skin and brains of the salmon, as well as salmon eggs to bulk up for the winter. The remaining parts of the salmon get swept onto riverbanks and back into trees and provide nutrients for the trees to grow tall and strong.  
 
There used to be many more Pacific salmon in the rivers of British Columbia. However, colonization, industry, and overfishing have significantly depleted the salmon in our waters. This makes it difficult for subsistence fishers and animals to survive the cold winters. There are, however, many efforts being made to protect, steward, and foster salmon populations! 

Status

COSEWIC: Range from Endangered to Threatened 
CDC: Not reviewed 

More Information

If you belong to a First Nation with a story or piece of information not represented here and you would like to share more about this species, please email us at education@sierraclub.bc.ca

Photo Credit

Al Harvey Slidefarm

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