1. Eggs hatch in fresh water in 8 to 12 weeks. When the eggs hatch the little fish are called alevins. They live in the gravel ground for a couple of weeks and they eat egg sacks off their bodies until they can find their own food.

2. Once the little fish eat enough yolk they are called fry. Then they eat bugs in the fresh water.

3. Coho, sockeye, and chinook stay in fresh water for about 1 to 3 years. Pink and chum salmon stay in fresh water for only a couple of days, then they head down the river until they end up in the sea.

4. It takes salmon 1 to 7 years to grow into an adult before returning to fresh water to spawn.

5. All salmon of the Pacific are silver colored. When they return to fresh water to spawn their color changes to red and their shape changes.

6. A female nests in gravel, then she releases the eggs into the gravel. The male milks the eggs. After spawning, all salmon die.