How far do salmon travel?
Salmon first travel from their home stream to the ocean, which can be a distance of hundreds of miles. Once they reach the ocean, they might travel an additional 1,000 miles to reach their feeding grounds.
Learn more: Questions and Answers about Salmon
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Juvenile salmonid monitoring in the White Salmon River, Washington, post-Condit Dam removal, 2016
Condit Dam, at river kilometer 5.3 on the White Salmon River, Washington, was breached in 2011 and removed completely in 2012, allowing anadromous salmonids access to habitat that had been blocked for nearly 100 years. A multi-agency workgroup concluded that the preferred salmonid restoration alternative was natural recolonization with monitoring...
Jezorek, Ian G.; Hardiman, Jill M.
Behavior and movements of adult spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Chehalis River Basin, southwestern Washington, 2015
Recent interest in flood control and restoration strategies in the Chehalis River Basin has increased the need to understand the current status and ecology of spring Chinook salmon. Based on the extended period between freshwater entry and spawn timing, spring Chinook salmon have the longest exposure of all adult Chinook salmon life histories to...
Liedtke, Theresa L.; Zimmerman, Mara S.; Tomka, Ryan G.; Holt, Curt; Jennings, Lyle
Passage and survival probabilities of juvenile Chinook salmon at Cougar Dam, Oregon, 2012
This report describes studies of juvenile-salmon dam passage and apparent survival at Cougar Dam, Oregon, during two operating conditions in 2012. Cougar Dam is a 158-meter tall rock-fill dam used primarily for flood control, and passes water through a temperature control tower to either a powerhouse penstock or to a regulating outlet (RO). The...
Beeman, John W.; Evans, Scott D.; Haner, Philip V.; Hansel, Hal C.; Hansen, Amy C.; Smith, Collin D.; Sprando, Jamie M.
Behavior and movement of adult summer steelhead following collection and release, lower Cowlitz River, Washington, 2012--2013
Executive SummaryHistorically, adult summer steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss returning to hatcheries on the lower Cowlitz River were sometimes transported and released in the river (recycled) to provide additional angling opportunity for the popular sport fishery in the basin. However, this practice has not been used in recent years because of...
Kock, Tobias J.; Liedtke, Theresa L.; Ekstrom, Brian K.; Rondorf, Dennis W.; Gleizes, Chris; Dammers, Wolf; Gibson, Scott; Murphy, Jamie
Survival and migration route probabilities of juvenile Chinook salmon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta during the winter of 2009-10
Juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) emigrating from natal tributaries of the Sacramento River may use a number of migration routes to negotiate the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (hereafter, "the Delta"), each of which may influence their probability of surviving. We applied a mark-recapture model to data from acoustically...
Perry, Russell W.; Romine, Jason G.; Brewer, Scott J.; LaCivita, Peter E.; Brostoff, William N.; Chapman, Eric D.
Summary of Migration and Survival Data from Radio-Tagged Juvenile Coho Salmon in the Trinity River, Northern California, 2008
The survival of hatchery-origin juvenile coho salmon from the Trinity River Hatchery was estimated as they migrated seaward through the Trinity and Klamath Rivers. The purpose of the study was to collect data for comparison to a similar study in the Klamath River and provide data to the Trinity River Restoration Program. A total of 200 fish fitted...
Beeman, John W.; Hansel, Hal; Juhnke, Steve; Stutzer, Greg
Behavior and movement of adult chum salmon in the lower Cowlitz River, 2007: Final Report of Research
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Liedtke, T.L.; Kock, T.J.; Ekstrom, B.K.; Rondorf, D.W.; Henning, J.
Community flood protection may also help endangered salmon to thrive
Building a river setback levee to reduce the risk of flood for a community may also help endangered fish species to thrive, according to the results of a novel computer model reported by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Endangered Salmon Population Monitored with eDNA for First Time
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and Washington State University have discovered that endangered Chinook salmon can be detected accurately from DNA they release into the environment. The results are part of a special issue of the journal Biological Conservation on use of environmental DNA to inform conservation and management of aquatic species.
New Method Monitors Riverbed and Flows to Protect Spawning Salmon
USGS scientists took high-tech sensors typically found in devices such as smart phones and embedded them into a new method to monitor riverbed movements that can help protect spawning habitat for endangered salmon. Developed in cooperation with Seattle Public Utilities for the Cedar River, the new method is published in the Journal of Hydrology.
Removal of Obsolete Forest Roads Can Reduce Erosion and Sediment That Impair Salmon-bearing Streams
Removing abandoned forest roads and restoring the natural characteristics of slopes and stream channels in the Redwood National and State Parks in northern California have substantially reduced the delivery of sediment to salmon-bearing streams, according to a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
Radio-tagged Kasilof River coho salmon
Radio tagged coho salmon from the Kasilof River in Alaska
Chinook Salmon
Chinook Salmon. Photograph courtesy of Michael Humling, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Acoustic-tagged juvenile Chinook salmon being released
Acoustic-tagged juvenile Chinook salmon being released.
PubTalk 2/2015 — Undamming Washington's Elwha River
by Amy East USGS Research Geologist
- Hear about river response to the largest dam removal in history.
- Causing disturbance as a means of restoration: how well does it work?
- Will legendary salmon runs return?
A Time to Spawn
Salmon and steelhead migrating through Bonnerville Dam.
Sockeye Salmon
Animated GIF of a Sockeye Salmon swimming in the water. This image comes from a video that depicts adult Sockeye Salmon in Drano Lake, WA on July 15th and 16th 2015.
