 Lenhth: 21-26 inches
Weight: 4-7 pounds
Life Span: 4-6 years
A blue-tinged silver in colour, sockeye salmon live four to five years, weigh
up to 7 lb. (3.2 kg), and are the slimmest and most streamlined of the five
species of Pacific salmon. It is the most sought-after salmon species due to its
rich flavour and firm, deep red flesh. Sockeye salmon are the most important commercial species of North Pacific
salmon. This is because they have oil-rich flesh that is a deep orange/red in
color. This species is on the smallish size (only pinks are smaller) and when it
is in the ocean it feeds primarily on plankton. This species has more gill
rakers than other salmon to facilitate this plankton feeding.
The greatest diversity in life history details is found in the sockeye
salmon. Baby sockeye may spend three months to three years in fresh water.
Adults may spawn near shorelines, on lake bottoms, or hundreds of miles
upstream. Some populations spawn within weeks of entering fresh water and others
take months.
|
