Pacific salmon live in the northern Pacific Ocean off the coasts of North America and Asia. There are five subspecies of Pacific salmon, with an average weight of ten to thirty pounds and an average age of five years. Pacific salmon are born in the fall in freshwater stream gravel beds, where they incubate through the winter and emerge as inch-long fish. They live for a year or two in the stream or lake, and then head downstream to the ocean. There they live for a few years, before heading back upstream to their exact place of birth to spawn and then die.
Atlantic salmon live in the northern Atlantic Ocean off the coasts of North America and Europe.
There are many subspecies of Atlantic salmon, including the trout and the char. Their typical size is ten to twenty pounds, with an average age of seven to ten years. The Atlantic salmon family has a similar life cycle to its Pacific cousins, from freshwater gravel beds to the sea. Salmon, in general, are graceful, silver-colored fish with spots on their backs and fins. Their diet consists of plankton, insect larvae, shrimp, and smaller fish.