The diagrams detailed above delineate the life cycle of salmon. Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that this circular process is comprised of four main stages including egg, fry, smolt and adult.
Creation of new salmon commence when adult salmon lay eggs on a specially hidden by reeds and covered by tiny stones place on a riverbed in the slow-moving current. After almost six months the eggs hatch into the fry and begin, during the next four years, their development in the lower, fast-flowing waters of the same river. For this period the younglings measure between 3 and 8 centimetres in length.
By the time baby salmon reach 12 to 15 centimetres, they are named smolt, and now they are ready for the further migration into the open sea. After 5 years there salmon become the adults, growing to the significant size, namely 70-76 centimetres. Entering the breeding period they begin swimming back to their birthplace, and the process carries on again.
In a nutshell, salmon pass through 3 phases before turning to maturity. Each of these takes place in rather different water locations: the two occur in the various river environments, while the third is lived in a saline water.