Save Our Salmon

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It’s tough to be a salmon! Each stage of the salmon lifecycle needs a specific environment.

Introduction

A watershed is a section of land where all of the area’s water is collected and funnelled into the same waterway. A watershed is made up of a unique mixture of habitats that influence each other. These habitats include forests, wildlife, creeks, rivers, lakes, farms and cities or towns. Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes.
Many human activities can negatively affect animals, particularly wild salmon, in their natural watershed habitat. Urban development can cause runoff. Runoff is water that runs off quickly into storm drains, ditches and sewer systems, eventually ending up in rivers and lakes, polluting water and killing fish. The more runoff, the higher the risk of flooding, which can erode stream banks and destroy spawning beds. The health of the watershed animal population depends on the health of their natural habitat.

Objectives

At the end of this lesson/activity students will be able to:

Identify each stage of the salmon lifecycle
Identify factors (natural and man-made) affecting salmon survival

Background

Salmon Habitat
Streams and lakes provide living, feeding and spawning areas for fish. A good water body for salmon has many different characteristics. Although young fish may not have the same needs as spawning fish, all salmon require an adequate flow of clean, cool water. Unfortunately, waterways can be easily and seriously damaged. Damage can be caused by carelessness in logging and mining practices, or by poorly-planned city and community growth and the pollution that accompanies it. Healthy streams and rivers are important to fish and other aquatic animals and plants and should be treated with care and respect.

Stream Care
Many factors that damage watershed ecology and water quality are beyond our control. However, there are ways to help save and preserve our streams:

Plant vegetation on the sides of lakes and streams to stabilize the banks
Leave natural plants and debris such as stumps, fallen trees or boulders where they are
Leave all animal life where it is
Keep pets and livestock away from the water
Use garden and lawn chemicals sparingly and with care
Remove garbage from the stream area
Direct soap suds, detergents, waste oil, gasoline or other household chemicals onto absorbent ground away from streams, not down storm drains or into roadside ditches

Salmon Overview
Wild salmon have lived in the cold, pristine Pacific waters for thousands of years and have been an integral part of the Pacific Northwest's history, culture and economy for as long as humans have lived here. Historically, B.C.’s First Nations have relied on salmon as a major food source.

Five species of salmon are native to the North Pacific and each species has a lifecycle ranging from two to seven years. Pacific salmon are anadromous, meaning they are born in fresh water and migrate downriver to the cold open waters of the Pacific Ocean. They often travel for thousands of kilometres then miraculously return to the river of their birth. Pacific salmon are also semelparous, meaning they die after they spawn. Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) are anadromous but are not semelparous.

It's still a mystery exactly how salmon find their way home, but they seem to rely on a combination of genetic coding, celestial navigation, electromagnetic currents and a strong sense of smell.

Salmon must protect themselves from predators. They are particularly susceptible to predators when migrating so they seek deep areas for protection. In the ocean, salmon school together, confusing predators with their flashy sides and causing them to be mistaken for a single large predator. A salmon’s predators change at different stages of its lifecycle. Salmon fry are stalked by other fishes, members of their own species, snakes and birds. Once in the ocean, salmon are prey to whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, other fish and, of course, humans. A spawning salmon is at risk of being scooped up by bears and birds.

A salmon's diet depends on its species and region. Typically, juvenile salmon eat zooplankton and larval and adult invertebrates. In the ocean, salmon eat smaller fish such as herring, pelagic amphipods and krill.

Humans have strong and often negative impacts on salmon. Overfishing has led to a decline in some salmon stocks. Land development and dam building have damaged habitats and impacted salmon runs. This development has led to a decline in salmon populations in some areas.
In 1985, the Canadian and US governments established the Pacific Salmon Treaty. The treaty outlines the conduct of fisheries, salmon management, research and enhancement programs.