Little+Know+Facts

1. Some salmon are extinct or gone. 2. When salmon die they are food for many animals like eagles, otters,and bears. 3. People that study fish are called ichthyologists. 4. All salmon know when to return to their spawning grounds by how long the day is and they can feel what season it is. 5. Most salmon can swim about 14 km per hour. 6. It is against the law to fish in spawning grounds. 7. Salmon change to red a couple of days after spawning, then they die. 8. Since salmon are nearsighted they have to always use low frequency sound waves to find food in far away places. 9. Chinook salmon or king salmon are the largest in the Pacific Ocean. They can weigh over 100 pounds. 10. Polluted waters can kill both baby salmon that are developing and adult salmon on their way to spawn. 11. In the wild, less then one out of 1,000 salmon eggs laid live to be spawning adults. 12. In order for the salmon to survive and be comfortable the temperature of the water should be 55 degrees F (12.8 C). 13. All salmon spend part of their life in fresh water and part of their life in salt water. 14. Salmon can find the right stream to spawn in by the smell of it. 15. Rainbow trout can be called steel head trout. They are really Pacific salmon. 16. Female salmon may lay 1,200 eggs into the nest.

Protecting and preserving wild salmon has become a popular topic within the last several years, both in the media and in natural resource agencies. Although the numbers of wild salmon have been declining for more than a century, the debate over how to address the problem has been infused with a new sense of urgency. A landmark study in 1992 titled "Pacific Salmon at the Crossroads: Stocks at Risk from CA, OR, ID and WA," identified 214 wild spawning salmon stocks that were at risk of extinction or of special concern, including 17 stocks that were already extinct. In response to this crisis, the [|Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife] began developing a [|Wild Salmonid Policy], to focus the agency's efforts on protecting and preserving wild salmon. WDFW has reviewed practices that may be harmful to wild salmon, and is educating the public about the importance of wild salmon in our environment. When we talk about the survival of wild salmon, we are also talking about the survival of the natural heritage of the Pacific Northwest. When thousands of mature salmon spawn and die, they do far more than produce another generation. This source of nutrition, arriving in the fall, allows many animals to survive the harshness of winter. Where salmon runs have become extinct, the local ecosystem suffers. Species such as bear, eagle, mink and river otter suffer large population losses. Other species show less dramatic, but significant declines. The result is a permanently altered ecosystem. Wild salmon are quite literally the energy that fuels our natural environment. Each individual stock of salmon is important. A chinook salmon from one river may be quite different genetically from a chinook of another river. This vast genetic diversity has allowed salmon to survive for two million years by helping them adapt to a specific local watershed or adjust to a changing one. They have endured floods and droughts, disease, volcanic eruptions, and even ice ages. Every stock lost to extinction is a loss of important genetic information, leaving the remaining fish less able to survive. We are fortunate to have Pacific salmon in our state, and often in our backyards. These fish are naturally found only in the northern Pacific Ocean, from California to Alaska, and from Siberia to Japan. Wild salmon are a natural treasure, and those of us who choose to live in the Pacific Northwest have an obligation to ensure their continued survival.

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