08-16-2005, 04:47 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Steelhead (searun rainbows), searun browns, searun cutts and searun brookies can all return to the ocean after spawning in fresh water. However, all the salmons (chinook, coho, sockeye and chum) will die after their first and only trip back into fresh water. That includes the jacks. They get in a big hurry and it kills them. Kinda like some people.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When salmon make their first and only spawning run, from salt water, their kidney functions reverse to process fresh water and they stop feeding. Their reproductive organs begin to take nutrients out of their formerly healthy flesh to aid the growth of the eggs or milt. That's why the flesh of spawning salmon turns pale and soft. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]By the time they spawn, there is not much left of them. They get big nasty splotches and fungus all over their skin and it is only a short time until they die. What an ugly end to a once beautiful fish. But, in the greater scheme of things, they do provide food for bears, eagles and other scavengers. And, their rotting carcasses put nutrients back into the water to help build a new food chain for the hatching young. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When salmon make their first and only spawning run, from salt water, their kidney functions reverse to process fresh water and they stop feeding. Their reproductive organs begin to take nutrients out of their formerly healthy flesh to aid the growth of the eggs or milt. That's why the flesh of spawning salmon turns pale and soft. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]By the time they spawn, there is not much left of them. They get big nasty splotches and fungus all over their skin and it is only a short time until they die. What an ugly end to a once beautiful fish. But, in the greater scheme of things, they do provide food for bears, eagles and other scavengers. And, their rotting carcasses put nutrients back into the water to help build a new food chain for the hatching young. [/#0000ff]
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