Cousin of Atlantic Salmon, Pacific Salmon is most famous for swimming up coastal rivers to spawn. Pacific Salmon has inspired many people to work to save his habitat because of what He inspires in those who watch Him go home. Pacific Salmon's migration is a magnificent sight to behold.
A close relative of Rainbow Trout, Pacific Salmon is of the family Oncorhynchus, which is a different family from Atlantic Salmon and Brown Trout. What makes Pacific Salmon different from Atlantic Salmon is that once He spawns, He dies. In addition, Pacific Salmon has a pronounced hooked jaw.
What most people do not know is that Pacific Salmon can also live in fresh water lakes, and not migrate to the sea. Pink Salmon (a member of the Pacific Salmon family) has been successfully introduced into the waters of the eastern United States. She lives in the Great Lakes and ascends to Her tributary stream to spawn. People stocked Pink Salmon to rid the Great Lakes of Alewives.
This all began when people accidentally introduced Alewife, a small, thin, iridescent fish, into the Great Lakes in the 1950s. With the absence of predators, Alewife bloomed, eliminating the food supply of the native Fish. In desperation, people introduced Chinook Salmon, Coho Salmon, and Pink Salmon into the Lakes to prey on Alewife. The Salmon eliminated most of the Alewives, but then established a new ecosystem in place of the original Great Lakes' ecosystem.
Pacific Salmon teaches responsibility, ranging from people seeking to restore health to the rivers where He lives in to not introducing Him where He does not belong. Be thoughtful in what you do.
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Photo of a Pacific Salmon courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Va. Carper
August 26, 2005