Then, when the time comes to reproduce, they journey back to the same river where they began to lay their eggs. All the Pacific salmon differ from their relative, the Atlantic salmon, in that they spawn only once and die shortly thereafter. Atlantic salmon may travel back and forth from ocean to freshwater as many as four times. Like many fish native to the west coast of North America, salmon populations have been threatened by overfishing and construction. Attempts to reestablish the species require increased oversight of the amounts harvested, which affects their seasonal availability.
Chinook salmon are now available farm-raised.
However, it is difficult to provide appropriate living conditions for ocean-going fish, and the other varieties have not adapted as successfully. Pacific salmon have also been introduced into the rivers around Lake Michigan, where they are thriving, at least in numbers sufficient for the recreational fishing that predominates there. Chinook salmon are also called king, spring, tyee, and quinnat salmon. They are the largest of all salmons, and from time to time, someone catches one that weighs more than 100 pounds. These impressive fish are capable of swimming upstream for thousands of miles to return to the riverbeds where they were born.