Use your hand to remember the salmon
Chum (Dog) -
Rhymeswith thumb:
I haveno spots
but I dohave vertical flame-likemarkings onmy sides
frommybelly tomyback that canbegreen, red, or
purple.
Sockeye (Red) -
If youweregoing to sockyourself
in theeye youwouldprobablyuse this finger:
I have
bright red sides and agreenhead and tail. I donot
have spots. Males have ahumpon their back and a
long, hooked jaw.
Pink -
Your pinky, of course!
I am known for the
hugehumpon thebacks of themales, hencemynick-
name “humpy.” I have largeoval spots onmybody as
well as at the top andbottomofmy tail. Mybody is
mostlygreen. I oftenhave awhitebelly.
King (Chinook) -
Because it is thebiggest:
I am
the largest species of salmon. My color can vary
fromolive-brown toblack or even redbut I always
have numerous black spots onmy back and the top
andbottomofmy tail.
Silver (Coho) -
Like a ringon your ringfinger:
I am
darkon topbut canhave red cheeks and a redbelly.
While I havenumerous spots, they areonlyon the top
half ofmybody and tail.
Kokanee/silver trout –
Land locked
sockeye:
I look like a sockeyebut ammuch
smaller because I nevermigrateout to
saltwater, preferring to stay in a large lake to
mature. Look closely and youmight see small
spots acrossmyback. I ammost common in
streams that drain toLakeSammamish.
Cutthroat -
Manyof us live in streams all year long
andnever go to saltwater, whileothers live in a lake
or Puget Soundbut return toour streams to spawn.
Regardless of our sizeor location, we are covered
withnumerous small spots from top tobottom.We
alsomaintainour sleek shape and silvery shine aswe
can spawnmore thanonce.
Technologyhelps us trackfish
To figure out howbest to help salmon, fish scientists
keep track of theirmigration andbehavior.
In Puget Sound, chinook and coho from hatcheries have their
adipose fin clipped off before they are released. Thismethod
may be low-tech but when they return as adults they can be
quickly identified as hatchery stock by theirmissing fin. This is
helpful for researchingwild and hatchery fish and helps fisherman
when they are only allowed to keep hatchery fish.While there
is a sockeye hatchery in theCedar River, their adipose fins are
not clippedbecause the fish are too small upon release.
Occasionally hatcheries put a tinymetal codedwire tag in the nose
of some fish before they are released. The tag, a rice-sizedpiece of
metal, ismagnetized and imprintedwith information about where
the fish originated. Ametal detector that looks like a thickmagic
wand can detect themagnet. Surveyors canwave thewand over
a fish carcass, remove the tag if one is detected, and read it under
amicroscope. Codedwire tags also give us a better idea of where
our salmon gowhen they are caught outside of Puget Sound.
Researchers also put similar passive integrated transponder
(PIT) tags in salmon tomonitormigrating habits, track behavior,
evaluate restoration projects, anddo other research. The
electronic tag, 12millimeters long, can be readby remote
readers. Underwater antenna and transceivers capture each
fish’s informationwithout needing to capture the actual fish
which allows data to be collectedmultiple times and inmultiple
locations. At the Ballard Locks, PIT tag readers are located in
the fish ladder, smolt slides, andwithin the locks themselves.
SponsoredNewspapers InEducationContent
| SUNDAY,
OCTOBER30, 2016
7
