Salmon of Nome

Just wanted to update everyone on the local salmon available here in Nome...

Chinook Salmon

SIZE: Chinook can be 1.5 metres long and weigh 58 kilograms! That's bigger than most kids! Average adult chinook are about 90 centimetres long and weigh 14 kilograms. A CHINOOK'S LIFE CYCLE: Chinook lay their eggs, or spawn, in late summer to late fall in larger and deeper streams than other salmon. Young salmon usually stay in their birth river for 1 to 18 months. Then they travel towards the ocean where they stop to spend time in estuaries, where they remain up to 189 days. Estuaries are places at the mouth of a river where fresh water and salt water mix. There are usually lots of wetlands in which to hide and lots of food to eat. After leaving the estuary, chinook salmon spend 1 to 8 years at sea before returning to their birth stream to spawn. Chinook feed on insects and other small creatures while young and mostly on other fish when older.

Chum Salmon

SIZE: An average chum can weigh from 4.5 to 12 kilograms. They are the second larget salmon after chinook.A CHUM'S LIFE CYCLE: Chum salmon usually spend very little time in freshwater, generally only to reproduce. Newly hatched chum called fry usually migrate to estuaries right after coming out of their gravel nests. During their first spring of life, chum salmon travel, or migrate to estuaries to spend several months before heading out to sea. Chum usually return to their birth rivers to spawn after 2-4 years at sea. They are the last salmon in the season to return from the ocean. When in freshwater, chum feed on insects and other small creatures.

Salmon -Thirty-Salmon

Passenger Capacity:
12 First / 132 Coach
Range:
2,370 miles (3,815 km)
Length:
119 ft, 7 in (36.4 m)

Typical Cruise Speed:
502 mph (808 km/h)
Wingspan:
94 ft, 9 in (28.9 m)
Max. Cruising Altitude:
37,000 ft (11,300 m)

Coho Salmon

SIZE: Coho salmon are smaller and slimmer than the chinook salmon. Coho salmon can reach up to one metre in length and weigh up to 14 kilograms but usually they weigh between 3 to 6 kilograms.
A COHO'S LIFE CYCLE: Adult coho spawn from November to January and the eggs hatch the next spring. Young salmon, called fry, stay in their birth streams for over a year. After spending three years in the ocean, most adult coho return to their birth rivers to spawn. Some male fish return after just two years. These guys are called "jacks." Most coho fry feed on underwater insects and small fish.

Pink Salmon

SIZE: Pink salmon can be up to 76 centimetres in length and weigh up to 5.5 kilograms but on average, pink salmon usually weigh from 1.5 to 2.5 kilograms.
A PINK'S LIFE CYCLE: Pink salmon begin to move downstream towards the ocean almost right after hatching from their eggs and coming out of the gravel. They live near the shore and in shallow saltwater areas but don't spend very much time in estuaries. They feed on insects and other small creatures. After only 18 months at sea, adult pinks return to their birth rivers to spawn. They don't travel very far up the rivers and spawn mostly in parts of their rivers near the coast.

Sockeye Salmon

SIZE: Sockeye can be up to 83 centimetres in length and weigh up to 7 kilograms.
A SOCKEYE'S LIFE CYCLE: Sockeye are one of the only species of salmon that spawn in streams that begin from a lake. Young sockeye spend from 1 to 2 years in freshwater and a lot of this time is spent in lakes. Once they begin the journey downstream, sockeye salmon move steadily toward the ocean. After 1 to 2 years in saltwater, sockeye return to spend 1 to 8 months in the lake before spawning. A kokanee is a sockeye that is land-locked and cannot travel to the ocean. It spends its whole life in lakes and streams.