Pacific salmon are an important biological and economic resource of countries of the North Pacific rim. They are also a unique group of fish possessing unusually complex life histories. There are seven species of Pacific salmon, five occurring on both the North American and Asian continents (sockeye, pink, chum, chinook, and coho) and two (masu and amago) only in Asia. The life cycle of the Pacific salmon begins in the autumn when the adult female deposits eggs which are fertilized in gravel beds in rivers or lakes. The young emerge from the gravel the following spring and will either migrate immediately to salt water or spend one or more years in a river or lake before migrating. Migrations in the ocean are extensive during the feeding and growing phase, covering thousands of kilometres. After one or more years the maturing adults find their way back to their home river, returning to their ancestral breeding grounds to spawn. They die after spawning, and the eggs in the gravel signify the beginning of a new cycle. Upon this theme Pacific salmon have developed many variations, both between as well as within species.

Pacific Salmon Life Histories gives detailed descriptions of the different life phases through which each of the seven species pass. Each chapter is written by a scientist who has spent years studying and observing a particular species of salmon. Some of the topics covered are geographic distribution, transplants, freshwater life, ocean life, development, growth, feeding, diet, migration, and spawning behaviour. The text is richly supplemented by numerous maps, illustrations, colour plates, and tables and there is a detailed general index, as well as a useful geographic index.

This volume brings together for the first time, and in a comprehensive form, most of the available biological information on the seven species of Pacific salmon. It is an invaluable source of information for students and teachers of biology and fisheries science, people in the fishing and aquaculture industry, and interested laypersons in countries of the North Pacific and elsewhere.

Cornelis Groot's profile page

Leo Margolis' profile page

C. Groot is an ethologist who has studied and worked in the field of fish behaviour in the Netherlands and Canada. At the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, British Columbia, his studies have centred on the migration of Pacific salmon, particularly on how they find their way during long-distance migrations, and on salmonid enhancement research. Recently, he has been appointed Climate Change Co-ordinator to examine the possible impacts that global climate changes can have on the fisheries resources of western Canada. He has also been a visiting Professor at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C, and at the Bamfield Marine Station. L Margolis is the senior scientist at the Pacific Biological Station, in Nanaimo and an adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University. Actively engaged for more than thirty-five years in research on Pacific salmon biology, his work has focused on stock discrimination, ocean migrations and distribution, and other aspects of the sea life of salmon. He is the author of over 140 research and review articles and editor of five special volumes on fish parasitology and fisheries science. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and in 1990 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.

This is a timely, up-to-date synthesis of our knowledge of the life histories of the seven species of Pacific salmon.

Canadian Society of Zoologists

Groot and Margolis have compiled a timely classic, beautifully illustrated with 21 color plates. The text is the current, ultimate review of the life histories of the seven Pacific salmon species. Anyone wanting the definitive word in one volume, this is it - right now.

Pullman Daily News

The quantity of information contained within this volume is immense, and the book is unrivalled as a compendium of data and references on Pacific salmon life histories ... it is an excellent review and the culmination of a major effort by acknowledged experts on each of the species ... This book is destined to become a classic library reference and will probably also adorn the personal shelves of most salmon researchers and many others besides.

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology