A Little Bit More
Each of the 5 species of salmon found on the Pacific coast of North America has two common names – makes it a bit confusing. These include the Humpback or Pink Salmon, the Sockeye or Red Salmon, the Chinook or King Salmon, the Coho or Silver Salmon, and the Chum or Dog Salmon (pictured in poster). All of these salmon die soon after spawning, unlike their Atlantic relatives – the Atlantic Salmon – on the east coast of North America.
Conservation organizations in the Northwest are especially aware of the health of salmon populations and support measures to improve the streams where salmon reproduce. Although farmed salmon have become an alternative source of salmon for people, the wild-caught fish are still considered to be the wiser choice from both a nutritional and environmental perspective.
At first you may think that all of those dead fish at the end of the spawn would be a real pollution problem on salmon streams but the reverse is actually true! Although the salmon spawning streams do become littered with dead fish, all of the nutrients accumulated over the past 4 – 5 years when these salmon lived in the sea are now available well inland from the ocean. The decomposing bodies provide a wonderful fertilizer that helps to stimulate growth in the stream and actually helps “fuel” the baby salmon’s growth – quite a legacy from adult salmon!
Activities
Science & Social Studies – What’s Your Verdict?
Objectives: Close look at the social and environmental aspects of salmon fishing
Materials: Internet/library access
A debate is a good way to have students focus on an issue. This is an appropriate activity for older students (grades 5 and up) to assemble information on a topic. Have your students focus on the salmon industry in the Northwest. Students can be assigned to the categories of fishing industry, the farming industry and the environmentalists. Have these three groups research the topic from their perspective and then discuss/debate what measures should be approved to maintain salmon as a viable resource.
Some question you may want to pursue:
Is the environmental impact of fishing or fish farming the same or not?
Are wild caught fish healthier for food than farmed raised salmon?
Are there any possible problems with the food fed to the farmed raised salmon?
Would you stop eating salmon if one or the other of these methods were shown to be bad environmentally?
Key Concepts
Populations and Ecosystems, Life Cycles, Identification, Growth and Development, Environmental Issues, Adaptations and Diversity
Questions
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