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Most Pacific salmon can be seen migrating from spring though fall, depending on the species. Most adult Atlantic salmon migrate up the rivers of New England beginning in spring and continuing through the fall as well, with the migration peaking in June.
Learn more: Western Fisheries Research Center - Questions and Answers about Salmon
No, salmon are not endangered worldwide. For example, most populations in Alaska are healthy. Some populations in the Pacific Northwest are much healthier than others. These healthy populations usually occupy protected habitats such as the Hanford Reach on the Columbia River and streams of Olympic National Park. Learn more: Western Fisheries Research Center - Questions and Answers about Salmon
Salmon come back to the stream where they were 'born' because they 'know' it is a good place to spawn; they won't waste time looking for a stream with good habitat and other salmon. Scientists believe that salmon navigate by using the earth’s magnetic field like a compass. When they find the river they came from, they start using smell to find their way back to their home stream. They build their...
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: Western Fisheries Research Center - Questions and Answers about Salmon
Most salmon species live 2 to 7 years (4 to 5 average). Steelhead trout can live up to about 11 years. Learn more: Western Fisheries Research Center - Questions and Answers about Salmon
There are seven species of Pacific salmon. Five of them occur in North American waters: chinook, coho, chum, sockeye, and pink. Masu and amago salmon occur only in Asia. There is one species of Atlantic salmon. Chinook/King salmon are the largest salmon and get up to 58 inches (1.5 meters) long and 126 pounds (57.2 kg). Pink salmon are the smallest at up to 30 inches (0.8 meters) long and 12...
Certain populations of sockeye salmon, coho salmon, chinook salmon, and Atlantic salmon are listed as endangered. Sockeye salmon from the Snake River system are probably the most endangered salmon. Coho salmon in the lower Columbia River may already be extinct. Salmon are not endangered worldwide. For example, most populations in Alaska are healthy. Some populations in the Pacific Northwest are...
There are many reasons for the decline in salmon populations. Logging an area around a stream reduces the shade and nutrients available to the stream and increases the amount of silt or dirt in the water, which can choke out developing eggs. Dams cause fish to die from the shock of going through the turbines and from predators that eat the disoriented fish as they emerge from the dam. Overfishing...
Salmon change color to attract a spawning mate. Pacific salmon use all their energy for returning to their home stream, for making eggs, and digging the nest. Most of them stop eating when they return to freshwater and have no energy left for a return trip to the ocean after spawning. After they die, other animals eat them (but people don't) or they decompose, adding nutrients to the stream...
Salmon eggs (roe) range in color from pale yellowish-orange to dark reddish-orange. The color varies both by species and within species and is determined by water temperature, sediment composition, age, and other factors. The eggs vary in size from the tiny sockeye roe (average ¼ inch or 5.6 mm) to the large chum roe (average almost ½ inch or 8.3 mm). Also, if a salmon egg does not get fertilized...
Most states have set fish (and wildlife) consumption advisories and recommended consumption levels. The state agency responsible for these limits varies. Examples of consumption advisory information can be found at the Environmental Protection Agency's Fish and Shellfish Advisories and Safe Eating Guidelines website.
Time lapse video of salmon migrating upstream from Lake Michigan to spawn, taken on October 22, 2022, at Underwood Creek at Wauwatosa, Wisconsin (https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/04087088/).
Time lapse video of salmon migrating upstream from Lake Michigan to spawn, taken on October 22, 2022, at Underwood Creek at Wauwatosa, Wisconsin (https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/04087088/).
Coho salmon migrating on the Sol Duc River, Washington to spawning grounds upstream. Fish must leap through a series of small waterfalls called the Salmon Cascades in Olympic National Park to reach the waters where they were born to complete their life cycle by spawning the next generation.
Coho salmon migrating on the Sol Duc River, Washington to spawning grounds upstream. Fish must leap through a series of small waterfalls called the Salmon Cascades in Olympic National Park to reach the waters where they were born to complete their life cycle by spawning the next generation.
Orange Steelhead Salmon eggs
Orange Steelhead Salmon eggs
Bright orange salmon eggs.
Bright orange salmon eggs.
Image of sockeye salmon. Photo provided by Milton Love, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Image of sockeye salmon. Photo provided by Milton Love, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara.
by Amy East USGS Research Geologist
by Amy East USGS Research Geologist
Salmon and steelhead migrating through Bonnerville Dam.
Salmon and steelhead migrating through Bonnerville Dam.
Spawning sockeye salmon in the Grand Central River, near Nome, Alaska
Spawning sockeye salmon in the Grand Central River, near Nome, Alaska
No, salmon are not endangered worldwide. For example, most populations in Alaska are healthy. Some populations in the Pacific Northwest are much healthier than others. These healthy populations usually occupy protected habitats such as the Hanford Reach on the Columbia River and streams of Olympic National Park. Learn more: Western Fisheries Research Center - Questions and Answers about Salmon
Salmon come back to the stream where they were 'born' because they 'know' it is a good place to spawn; they won't waste time looking for a stream with good habitat and other salmon. Scientists believe that salmon navigate by using the earth’s magnetic field like a compass. When they find the river they came from, they start using smell to find their way back to their home stream. They build their...
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: Western Fisheries Research Center - Questions and Answers about Salmon
Most salmon species live 2 to 7 years (4 to 5 average). Steelhead trout can live up to about 11 years. Learn more: Western Fisheries Research Center - Questions and Answers about Salmon
There are seven species of Pacific salmon. Five of them occur in North American waters: chinook, coho, chum, sockeye, and pink. Masu and amago salmon occur only in Asia. There is one species of Atlantic salmon. Chinook/King salmon are the largest salmon and get up to 58 inches (1.5 meters) long and 126 pounds (57.2 kg). Pink salmon are the smallest at up to 30 inches (0.8 meters) long and 12...
Certain populations of sockeye salmon, coho salmon, chinook salmon, and Atlantic salmon are listed as endangered. Sockeye salmon from the Snake River system are probably the most endangered salmon. Coho salmon in the lower Columbia River may already be extinct. Salmon are not endangered worldwide. For example, most populations in Alaska are healthy. Some populations in the Pacific Northwest are...
There are many reasons for the decline in salmon populations. Logging an area around a stream reduces the shade and nutrients available to the stream and increases the amount of silt or dirt in the water, which can choke out developing eggs. Dams cause fish to die from the shock of going through the turbines and from predators that eat the disoriented fish as they emerge from the dam. Overfishing...
Salmon change color to attract a spawning mate. Pacific salmon use all their energy for returning to their home stream, for making eggs, and digging the nest. Most of them stop eating when they return to freshwater and have no energy left for a return trip to the ocean after spawning. After they die, other animals eat them (but people don't) or they decompose, adding nutrients to the stream...
Salmon eggs (roe) range in color from pale yellowish-orange to dark reddish-orange. The color varies both by species and within species and is determined by water temperature, sediment composition, age, and other factors. The eggs vary in size from the tiny sockeye roe (average ¼ inch or 5.6 mm) to the large chum roe (average almost ½ inch or 8.3 mm). Also, if a salmon egg does not get fertilized...
Most states have set fish (and wildlife) consumption advisories and recommended consumption levels. The state agency responsible for these limits varies. Examples of consumption advisory information can be found at the Environmental Protection Agency's Fish and Shellfish Advisories and Safe Eating Guidelines website.
Time lapse video of salmon migrating upstream from Lake Michigan to spawn, taken on October 22, 2022, at Underwood Creek at Wauwatosa, Wisconsin (https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/04087088/).
Time lapse video of salmon migrating upstream from Lake Michigan to spawn, taken on October 22, 2022, at Underwood Creek at Wauwatosa, Wisconsin (https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/04087088/).
Coho salmon migrating on the Sol Duc River, Washington to spawning grounds upstream. Fish must leap through a series of small waterfalls called the Salmon Cascades in Olympic National Park to reach the waters where they were born to complete their life cycle by spawning the next generation.
Coho salmon migrating on the Sol Duc River, Washington to spawning grounds upstream. Fish must leap through a series of small waterfalls called the Salmon Cascades in Olympic National Park to reach the waters where they were born to complete their life cycle by spawning the next generation.
Orange Steelhead Salmon eggs
Orange Steelhead Salmon eggs
Bright orange salmon eggs.
Bright orange salmon eggs.
Image of sockeye salmon. Photo provided by Milton Love, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Image of sockeye salmon. Photo provided by Milton Love, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara.
by Amy East USGS Research Geologist
by Amy East USGS Research Geologist
Salmon and steelhead migrating through Bonnerville Dam.
Salmon and steelhead migrating through Bonnerville Dam.
Spawning sockeye salmon in the Grand Central River, near Nome, Alaska
Spawning sockeye salmon in the Grand Central River, near Nome, Alaska