Salmon spawning in Washington

Salmon

Salmon are an icon of the USA's Pacific Northwest and witnessing their epic journey is a ay to tap into the spirit of the region.

The belief of First Nations is that salmon are immortal, their souls reborn into a new body each year, however the runs were not a promised guarantee and legend has it that should people behave inappropriately and anger the salmon, the fish may not return to those waters. 

As such salmon are the lore of many stories of the local native peoples of the Puget Sound and remain the focus of conservation efforts for locals. 

The annual migration of five species of salmon, the coho; chook; sockeye; chum and pink, takes place every year between August and November in the Duwamish, Green and Cedar Rivers. 

These feed into Puget Sound in the Seattle Southside area. 

Visitors can observe salmon at Ballard Locks, located in Seattle in the Lake Washington Ship Canal that connects Lake Washington to the Puget Sound, as well as in smaller creeks and streams. 

There is also a Salmon Days festival each autumn. At Duwamish Gardens, a 2.34-acre park in Tukwila and salmon habitat restoration site about 11 miles from Seattle, there is the chance to spot pink salmon from July through August, chook and coho salmon in September and chum in November. 

* www.stateofwatourism.com and www.visitseattle.org 

* Michelle Thana at michelle@stateofwatourism.com