LEARN

Do salmon change their feeding habits during the spawning phase?

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Yes! Salmon stop feeding as they enter fresh water. Their stomach is no longer needed and it begins to disintegrate internally -- leaving more room for the developing eggs and sperm.

Other changes during spawning are physiological: the distinctive red color, humped back, and elongated jaw. Pacific salmon begin living off the stored fat in their tissues that has been accumulating during their life in the ocean.

When this process starts, the flesh of the salmon begins to lack flavor, becomes pale in color and is mushy in texture. That is why most salmon used for food are caught in the ocean or estuaries where they have the best flavor, color and texture before they start upstream.

Sockeye and Chinook are the hardiest of the Pacific salmon family, traveling as far as 1,600 km upstream to spawn. Chums, Coho and Pinks spawn closer to the ocean.

Professor Salmon