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The largest of all salmon, adult Chinook salmon often weigh more than 40 pounds and some may exceed 120 pounds. The fish is characteristically blue-green with silver flanks. It can be found from Japan, north to Siberia, east to Alaska, and south to southern California. Juveniles usually live between 3 months and 2 years in freshwater streams and rivers, eating insects and crustaceans, and then swim out to sea. Adults feed mostly on other fish.
After 1-6 years at sea, the salmon begin their spawning runs, migrating up the same streams and rivers from which they originated. Females prepare “redds,” nests on the river bottom in which they deposit eggs. Adults guard the redds anywhere from a few days to a month, then die. The young hatch after 3-5 months, their gills and kidneys slowly changing to be able to process salt water as they prepare to migrate out to sea. Different populations sometimes spawn at different times in the same riverine environment.
There are two main types of Chinook salmon: stream-type and ocean-type. Stream-type salmon are typically found in the Asian and northern American part of the range and spend over a year in freshwater, then perform long offshore migrations. They usually return to freshwater in spring or summer several months before spawning. Ocean-type Chinook salmon are mostly found in the southern American range and migrate to sea within their first year of life and remain in coastal waters, then return to their natal river in fall only a few days or weeks before spawning.
Nature picture credits (left to right): Photo © Michael Quinton/ Minden Pictures (swimming upriver); Photo © Michael Quinton/ Minden Pictures (spawning).
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