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alantic salmon - wildlife
alantic salmon - wildlife |
Spawning: Spring and Autumn in the River Eden catchment. On their migration to the spawning sites, the males turn darker with reddish spots appearing on their sides, their bellies turn a pink colour and the jaws develop a hook called a kype. The females remain silvery grey. Guided by the chemistry of the water they return to the same river and tributaries they hatched in. They overcome many obstacles on their journey such as weirs, rapids and waterfalls. The Romans named them “Salar”; the leaper. The male salmon (cock) excavates a shallow redd in the gravels, into which the female (hen) deposits up to 20,000 eggs, each 4-7mm in diameter. The eggs are immediately fertilised by the male and the two salmon move their bodies so as to cover over their brood with gravel to keep them safe. Most of the adult salmon die of exhaustion after spawning but a small number return to the sea and are able to spawn a second time. Hatching & Lifecycle: The young hatch in April, and subsist for up to forty days by absorbing the contents of their yolk sac. In the first two years they feed on small freshwater organisms and insect larvae and are called ‘fry’ and subsequently ‘parr’. They spend between one and three years in freshwater environments. Eventually they change colour, their backs become grey-green and their bellies silver-white. Now called 'smolts' they journey down river to the sea usually during April / May. Salmon live in the sea for between one and four years. Feeding on fish and crustaceans they grow much faster than in freshwater. Some salmon migrate to around the Faroe Islands and return after one year, these salmon are known as ‘Grilse’, and usually weigh two to four kilograms. Others migrate across the North Atlantic to near Greenland, and these fish normally spend two or more years at sea. Anglers: help to protect the Eden Valley's salmon. |
