Where do Toronto salmon come from? Where are they going?
October 5, 2022 3:06 PM Subscribe
I know salmon run through Toronto. Did they really swim here all the way from the ocean? That seems so hard to believe. The ocean is really really far from here. Where are their breeding grounds that they're going to?
A bit more from Fisheries and Oceans Canada: Atlantic salmon... a remarkable life cycle
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:24 PM on October 5, 2022
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:24 PM on October 5, 2022
However, Atlantic salmon can spend their entire lifecycle in Lake Ontario:
Most Atlantic salmon of Lake Ontario, although the same species as the salmon found on the Atlantic coast, lived their entire life in Lake Ontario. These (landlocked) salmon exhibited the same migratory patterns as their Atlantic coast relatives; they spawned in the upper watershed and moved into the lake as adults. Some Lake Ontario salmon may also have migrated to the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence River.
Atlantic salmon have a homing instinct, and generally return to the same stream they left as juveniles. Historically, the Lake Ontario Atlantic salmon began their spawning migration in June, and spawned in the early fall. Following spawning, a proportion of spent spawners, known as kelts, would survive to return to Lake Ontario. Some of these fish would survive to spawn two or more times.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:34 PM on October 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
Most Atlantic salmon of Lake Ontario, although the same species as the salmon found on the Atlantic coast, lived their entire life in Lake Ontario. These (landlocked) salmon exhibited the same migratory patterns as their Atlantic coast relatives; they spawned in the upper watershed and moved into the lake as adults. Some Lake Ontario salmon may also have migrated to the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence River.
Atlantic salmon have a homing instinct, and generally return to the same stream they left as juveniles. Historically, the Lake Ontario Atlantic salmon began their spawning migration in June, and spawned in the early fall. Following spawning, a proportion of spent spawners, known as kelts, would survive to return to Lake Ontario. Some of these fish would survive to spawn two or more times.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:34 PM on October 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
Before we fucked up the Columbia River with dams, salmon swam from the Pacific Ocean almost to the continental divide in Idaho.
posted by rockindata at 4:33 PM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by rockindata at 4:33 PM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
Salmon go even farther in the Yukon.
Covering more than 30 miles per day against the unrelenting current, this six year-old, thirty pound salmon swam more than two thousand miles from the Bering Sea to reach her spawning grounds.posted by rockindata at 5:03 PM on October 5, 2022
If you're checking out the dams in Etienne Brûlée Park, take a walk south of the subway station. Last year there were about 50 buzzards hanging out in the trees, taking turns to come down to stand in the shoals and gorge on dead salmon. It seems pretty cool timing that there's this annual feast just as they're collecting along the north shore of the lake, getting ready to head south for the winter.
posted by brachiopod at 5:03 PM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by brachiopod at 5:03 PM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
The salmon in Toronto do not currently and historically did not migrate to the ocean. In fact, many of the salmon in Toronto are actually introduced Pacific salmon and the Atlantic salmon were re-introduced into the lake directly.
Land-locked salmon are common in North America since the end of the last ice age, not just in Lake Ontario, but in many lakes. Salmon are perfectly happy to live their lives in lakes.
Salmon absolutely can swim thousands of kilometres upstream (I live near the upper end of the Columbia River, where salmon reached 2000km upstream historically and hopefully will be back in our lifetimes), but these particular salmon in Lake Ontario don't and didn't.
posted by ssg at 9:29 PM on October 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
Land-locked salmon are common in North America since the end of the last ice age, not just in Lake Ontario, but in many lakes. Salmon are perfectly happy to live their lives in lakes.
Salmon absolutely can swim thousands of kilometres upstream (I live near the upper end of the Columbia River, where salmon reached 2000km upstream historically and hopefully will be back in our lifetimes), but these particular salmon in Lake Ontario don't and didn't.
posted by ssg at 9:29 PM on October 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
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Yep! They're anadromous.
Toronto Region Conservation Authority has a whole bunch of local info on salmon migration and spawning:
Salmon in Toronto and GTA Waters
Why You Couldn’t See Salmon Spawning in Toronto’s Don River 20 Years Ago
Atlantic salmon, unlike Chinook and Coho salmon, can repeat the spawning and migration cycle more than once.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:16 PM on October 5, 2022 [2 favorites]