 Lenhth:18-24 inches
Weight: 3-5.5 pounds
Life Span: 2-3 years
Living only two years, pinks are the smallest of the Pacific salmon, weighing up
to 5 lb. (2.3 kg). They have heavily spotted backs over silver bodies. Pink
salmon are the most plentiful of the five species. Because of their abundance they are one of the most important in the salmon
fishery. The pinks are not considered to be one of the finest eating salmon
however, because their flesh has a low fat content and is on the pale side.
Most pinks reproduce at two years (with only a few
reproducing at three years in the coldest areas). This results in two distinct
types of pink salmon - even year classes and odd year classes. Rarely do these
two groups mix during reproduction. This species spends the least time in fresh
water of all the North Pacific salmon (less than six months as babies). They
generally spawn close to the mouth of their stream with little, or no, upstream
migration
|
