EGGS

The life cycle of a wild Alaskan salmon begins as the female salmon lays her eggs in a bed of gravel. This bed of gravel can be up to 18 inches (45 cm) deep and is called a redd. Salmon generally prefer to place their redds in a streambed below a riffle, where the fast-running water will provide an ample supply of oxygen for the eggs. The female salmon digs the redd using sweeping movements of her tail, while the male protects the female from intruders (other potential spawners). After she digs a depression with her tail to lay the eggs in, the female salmon spawns and lays up to 8,000 eggs in the gravel. The male fertilizes them by covering them with a milky substance known as milt. After fertilization, the female covers the eggs with gravel, and remains on the redd until death several days later. About a month after they have been deposited in the gravel, eyes begin to show in the fertilized eggs. Water flow and temperature are critical for the survival of the developing eggs. Alaska's clean & cold waters provide the perfect place for these eggs to thrive.

ALEVIN

Several months after the fertilized eggs have grown eyes, the eggs hatch into alevins. Alevins are tiny creatures with huge eyes attached to bright orange yolk sacks. The alevin draw their energy from the orange yolk sack that contains a completely balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. The vitelline vein, running through the center of the sack, picks up oxygen from the water. They grow rapidly under the gravel for three to four months. Although the alevin can't swim but only swish their tail to move around slightly in the gravel, they are totally protected from predators and other hazards. At this stage, they are less than one inch long.

When the alevin use up their food in the egg sack they begin look like very small salmon. This is known as the fry stage. Now just over an inch (2.5 cm) long, they are free swimming, and are easy prey for larger fish. The length they stay in the fry stage can be very different depending upon the salmon species. Chinook or King salmon immediately start heading for salt water as do pink and chum fry. Coho or silver salmon may remain in their home stream for over a year before starting to swim down stream to find their way to the ocean and Sockeye fry may also move into a lake for a year.

Wild Alaskan salmon are called fingerlings when they start their downstream migration to the sea. Some are two years old and may be over 5 inches long. An estimated 10 billion salmon fingerlings enter the Gulf of Alaska from surrounding rivers each year. These shiny, silver fish will undergo a series of physiological and morphological changes that allow them to acclimate to the saltwater conditions of their new marine environment. This period of adjustment occurs as the fingerlings spend time in the estuary area of the river or stream. Estuaries are very important for this and they also have lots of important foods for the small salmon. Only a small percentage of the original salmon actually reach the ocean. There are many predators and challenges that the salmon face from the egg stage until they reach the ocean. Once in the ocean, the salmon grow rapidly in the bountiful feeding grounds off Alaska's coast. Here, the salmon feed and grow into fully developed adult salmon.

ADULT SALMON

Adult salmon will stay in the ocean from six months to five years. During their time in the ocean, Sockeye, Pink and Chum salmon feed primarily on plankton and crustaceans such as tiny shrimp. Chinook and Coho salmon eat smaller fish, shrimp and squid. The search for food takes many sockeye, chums and pink salmon away from the coastal waters near their home streams. They move past the northern part of the Alaska panhandle in the coastal current and are carried far away from the continental shelf off the Alaska panhandle. Speeds up to 10 times what the young salmon could achieve on their own are possible by staying in the center of the coastal current. Other salmon species such as the Chinook and Coho are not swept away by the currents; some stocks may remain near the continental shelf year round.

SALMON HOME STREAM MIGRATION

Adult salmon may travel thousands of miles from the stream they were born in. When they are fully mature they return to their home stream to spawn. Some salmon called jacks will return to their natal stream to spawn earlier than the rest of their age-class. Scientists are uncertain as to exactly how salmon navigate back to their spawning grounds. Current thinking ranges from theories based on an ability to work out direction from the stars and using the magnetic field of the earth to the more popular belief that salmon use their highly developed sense of smell to find the particular smell of their home stream. Once back in the fresh water, the returning salmon devote all their energy to reaching the placid waters of the spawning river where they were born in. Sockeye and Chinooks are the most hardy of the Pacific salmon family, traveling as far as 1,000 miles (1,600 km) upstream to spawn. Chums, Coho and pinks spawn closer to the sea. The migration of wild Alaskan salmon is a remarkable feat, considering that the salmon stop feeding as they enter fresh water and live only on stored body fats. During their migration, they change from a sleek, silvery fish to the colorful (often bright red) fish with humped bodies and hooked jaws. This physical metamorphosis of the spawning salmon is caused by changes in their fat composition, blood chemistry, hormones, enzymes and skin pigmentation. Their arteries become clogged (just as humans with severe arteriosclerosis) their muscles soften, and their skin thickens. Yet they struggle for weeks against rapids, falls, obstructions in the form of fallen logs and rocks until, bruised and travel-worn, they are ready to spawn.

SPAWNING

Spawning completes the lifecycle of the wild Alaskan salmon. But it also begins the process all over again for a whole new generation of salmon. Within a week of spawning, the majority of the salmon species die leaving the nutrients from their decomposing bodies to help fertilize the stream.

WILD ALASKAN SALMON & SEAFOOD

Alaska's wild fish stocks are thriving thanks to our pristine, unpolluted environment and the proper maintenance of this renewable resource. Alaska's fisheries management system is well crafted and has maintained sustainable harvests since it's statehood over four decades ago. Taste the difference for yourself, and treat yourself to some Wild Alaska Salmon & Seafood today.