Salmon Migration | Course Paper

1 Name_________________________

Salmon Life Cycle and Migration Envs 102 50 points

Overview:

Pacific salmon species spend their lives in both freshwater and saltwater. In this activity,

you will describe and illustrate a sample life cycle for Pacific salmon, including where

they spend di!erent phases of their lives, the salmon migration route, hazards they

encounter along the way, and the fact that salmon are able to return to the streams

where they were born after spending years swimming in the ocean. You will:

describe the di!erent stages of salmon life cycle;

detail the various hazards salmon encounter during their migration;

visualize an example salmon migration route using a Google Earth tour

Materials Required:

• Computer with Internet access, Microsoft Word and Google Earth

References and Resources:

Part 1: Fish Life Cycle

http://www.nps.gov/olym/naturescience/the-salmon-life-cycle.htm

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/fish/chinooksalmon.htm

http://www.fws.gov/alaska/cybersalmon/coho.htm

http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00548/species–life%20cycle.html



Part 2: Tagging

PIT Tag Information Center :

Start by doing the QUICK REPOTRS TUTORIAL: http://www.ptagis.org/support/tutorials

Use Quick Reports to answer the questions for this section.

http://www.ptagis.org

Part 3: Distribution and Migration Maps:

Fish Passage: http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/y2785e/y2785e03.htm

http://www.salmonnation.com/fish/meet_species.html#

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/rangemaps/chinooksalmon.pdf

http://alaska.fws.gov/cybersalmon/Ocean%20maps.pdf

Part One: Salmon Life Cycle

Use the required reading to answer the following questions. No credit will be given for

answers that are “cut and paste” from the website text. Use your own words.

1. In the “Fish Life Cycle” section, use the listed websites to answer the questions below.

a. Salmon and steelhead are described as anadromous fish. What does this mean?

Anadromous (sh is a kind of (sh who born in the river and living in the

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2 Name_________________________

sea for a long time and spawing in the river again.

b. What life stages are considered “Juvenile Fish?”

After the (sh in the alevins stages and before reture to the sea.

c. How long do juvenile fish stay in fresh water? At what stage do they begin to

migrate to the ocean?

It depends on different kind of anadromous (sh. Sockeye have been

spending 1-2 years. Chinook have been spending less than 5 month and

coho have been spending over 1 year. At this moment, they are called as

fry.

d. What direction are the juvenile fish heading when they reach the dams?

They have to Hide from predator and prevent themselves during 2ood.

e. How long do the salmon and steelhead spend in the ocean?

Salmon spend 1-7 years and the steelhead spend 1-4 years.