Native species often migrate from one habitat to another as they grow! Depending on the type of fish, they may migrate daily, annually, or longer between a few metres to thousands of kilometres.

During its life, fish will migrate for some of the following activities:

  1. Fish nest in the shallow marsh, raising their young as they hatch. During spawning season, adult fish will spend a month in the marsh.
  2. After spawning, the adult fish will leave the marsh and return to deeper water, reducing the competition for food in the marsh for younger fish.
  3. As winter arrives, and water freezes, many fish leave the marsh to avoid the ice and lack of plant growth.
  4. When the fish reaches maturity, they return to the marsh to reproduce.

For species like Salmon, migration season called a salmon run, is a major part of the ecosystem and is an important food source for bears, eagles, and wolves. Each run happens at different times of the year and has different maturity and migration pathways for the fish.

Fish jumping up a waterfall as they migrate through a fishway

THINK-PAIR-SHARE

Think about large bodies of water near you:

  • What fish are native to your region?
  • What do you know about their life cycles and migration routes?
  • What might disrupt these patterns?