salmon comparison

* The Singing Falls Stream Restoration Project *

Salmon Life Cycles

Where are the salmon, when?

Generalized life history patterns of salmon, steelhead and trout in the Pacific Northwest*

	Adults Return to Streams	Spawn Location	Eggs in Gravel	Young in Stream	Fresh Water Habitat	Young Migrate Down	Time in Estuary	Time in Ocean	Average Adult Weight
Coho	Oct-Jan	coastal streams, shallow tributaries	Oct-May	1+	watershed in general	Mar-Jul 2nd year	few days-one month	2 years	5-20 lbs
Chum	Sept-Jan	coastal rivers and streams	Sept-Mar	days-weeks	little time in freshwater	shortly after leaving gravel	7-14 days	2.5-3 years	8-12 lbs
Chinook 3 runs	Jan-Mar	main stems	Jul-Mar	3 months - 1+years	main stems	2nd year	Mar-Jun	2-5 years	10-40 lbs
Cutthroat	Jul-Dec	tiny coastal streams	Dec-Jul	1-3 year 2 average	tributaries	Mar-Jun of 2nd-4th yr.	less than a month	.5-1 year	.5-4 lbs
Pink	Jul-Oct	stream main stems - lower reaches	Aug-Jan	days-weeks	little time	Dec-May	few days	1.5	3-10 lbs (4)
Sockeye	Jul-Aug	streams near lakes	Aug-Apr	1-3 years	lakes	Apr-Jun (2nd-4th yr)	few days	1-4 years	3-8 lbs (6)
Steelhead 3 runs	year round	small streams and rivers	Feb-Jul	1-3 years	tributaries	2-5 years	less than a month	1-4 years	5-30 lbs (8)

Coho Salmon Stages of growth

*There is much variation in life history patterns--each stream system having fish with their own unique timing and patterns of spawning, growth, and migration. Ask a local biologist about the specific patterns of the fish in your streams and update this chart for your area.

**The eggs of most salmonids take 2-4 months to hatch depending on water temperature.

***Steelhead and cutthroat trout, unlike salmon, may not die after spawning. They can migrate back out to sea and return in later years to spawn again. Adapted by Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. Sources: Ocean Ecology of North Pacific Salmonids,

Bill Pearcy, University of Washington Press, 1992 Fisheries Handbook of Engineering Requirements and Biological Criteria,

Milo Bell, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1986; Adopting A Stream; A Northwest Handbook, Steve Yates, Adopt-A Stream Foundation, 1988.