Chinook salmon successful at guarding their redds. Chinook eggs hatch, 90 to 150 days after deposition, depending upon water temperature. Egg deposits are timed to ensure the young salmon fry emerge during an appropriate season for survival and growth. Fry and parr (young fish) usually stay in fresh water 12 to 18 months before traveling downstream to estuaries, where they remain as smolts for several months. Some Chinooks return to the fresh water one or two years earlier than their counterparts, and are referred to as "jack" salmon. "Jack" salmon are typically less than long, but are sexually mature and return at
Salmon louse gills of the fish, and feeding off the mucus or skin. Sea lice only affect fish and are not harmful towards humans. Salmon lice are natural ectoparasites of salmon, in the 1980s high levels of salmon lice were observed on Pink salmon smolts. Salmon lice are found in Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, they infect Pink salmon, Atlantic salmon, and Chum salmon. There has been some research on the problems caused by this species in aquaculture, but little is known about the salmon louse's life in nature. It has been shown, however, that salmon louse infections in fish farming facilities can