Salmon Run Viewing

Vancouver Island is home to all five North American species of salmon. The largest salmon is the Chinook and the smallest is the pink salmon. Other species include the coho, chum and sockeye. Salmon range in size from three to 65 pounds. Life cycles vary between species, but most live between three and seven years.

Although each species of salmon has a slightly different life span, the basic cycle is the same. Young salmon hatch in rivers and streams and spend the first part of their lives in fresh water. Some months later, they move to the saltwater of the Pacific Ocean and spend several years growing into adulthood in the food-rich waters. When the time comes, the salmon migrate back to the streams where they were born. Guided largely by smell, they return home to coastal or inland rivers, swimming across thousands of kilometres of ocean.

As they prepare for spawning, salmon become brightly coloured and their bodies become distorted. They battle their way upstream until they arrive at a familiar stretch of riverbed. The males battle for the right to fertilize the females, and the females batter their bodies as they dig holes (or redds), in the river bottom in which to lay their eggs. When the salmon are spent, their carcasses lie rotting along the riverbanks. They provide food for scavenging birds and mammals and cycle nutrients back into the ecosystem. In time, the eggs hatch and a new generation of salmon begins the cycle again.

From September to November, the life cycle of the salmon draws people from around the world to the Pacific Northwest. In Victoria, the most popular and easily-accessible location to view spawning salmon is Goldstream Provincial Park, 19 kilometres north of the city. Campbell River, on the northern central coast of Vancouver Island, is internationally recognized as the Salmon Capital of the World and its salmon attract sport fisherman, visitors and even celebrities.

The spawning salmon also attract wildlife. Bears gather at more remote rivers to feed on the salmon and fatten up for the winter. Hundreds of bald eagles are drawn to Goldstream, while a thousand may arrive at the Nimpkish River, north of Campbell River. Gulls also gather by the thousands, gorging on the spent fish.