Because salmon are such a large part of the Lheidli T'enneh diet we should learn about their life cycle so we can be careful with our harvesting methods to ensure that there are plenty of salmon each year.
The Life cycle of Salmon:
- Eggs—Pacific salmon begin life in late summer as eggs buried in nests in the gravel of a streambed. Under the icy waters of the stream a transformation happens during fall and winter.
- Alevins—In mid-winter, alevins hatch from their eggs and feed from their yolk sacs.
- Fry—Tiny fry wriggle from their gravel nests in spring. They migrate to a nearby lake or stream pool where they feed on insect larvae and tiny shrimp.
- Smolts—The fry stay in freshwater through the second winter of their life. They grow and transform again, becoming streamlined silver swimmers called smolts. As smolts the salmon migrate down the mighty Fraser to the ocean.
- Adults—The young adults swim north along British Columbia's coast toward the waters off Alaska. There they feed on shrimp and fish and grow rapidly. In their fourth or fifth summer the mature adults begin swimming back to their home stream to spawn. Most will be caught by fishermen.
- Spawning Adults—Once the salmon reach home, they spawn. Each female digs a nest in the gravel of the streambed and lays several hundred eggs while a male fertilizes them. The female covers the nest, then digs another where she lays more eggs, etc.
- Regeneration—After the adults have finished spawning, they die. Their decaying bodies provide a food source for other animals and nutrients for their offspring. In this way, the death of the adult salmon helps the next generation survive.
