Lincoln County Conservation District
FUN FACTS-WORKBOOKS & CRAFTS
SALMON FACTS
We Them!
Did You Know?
How do salmon know where their home is when they return from the ocean?
We think they can tell directions in the ocean by the earth's magnetic field acting like a compass. When they find the river they came from they start using smell to find their way back to their home stream. They build their "smell memory-bank" when they start migrating to the ocean as young fish.
Why do salmon come back to the same stream?
Salmon come back to the same stream they were "born" in because they "know" it is a good place to spawn and they won't waste time looking for another stream with good habitat and other fish to spawn with.
Why do salmon die after
they spawn?
Salmon use all their energy for returning to their home stream, for making eggs and digging the nest. Most salmon stop eating when they return to freshwater and have no energy left for a return trip to the ocean after spawning. After they die, other animals eat them (but people don't) or they decompose, adding nutrients to the stream. Steelhead trout, however, continue to eat in freshwater and many survive and return to the ocean. These fish can grow another year and then return to spawn again.
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