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Human Interaction Of The Pacific Northwest Salmon

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Human Interaction and the Salmon of the Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is home to a wide variety of species. Its ocean, forests, streams, and rivers allow for vast amounts of animals to reside in the area. A particular inhabitant, the salmon, is unique in that it not only lives in both salt water and freshwater, but that it also returns to its own birthplace to spawn. Because of these unique characteristics, the salmon has become a symbol of the Pacific Northwest.
The salmon has lived in the waters of the area for millions of years, and before humans inhabited the area, the salmon lived peacefully and was free to spawn and continue its lifecycle. However, when humans migrated to the Pacific Northwest, they brought new challenges for …show more content…

As a symbol to the Pacific Northwest, salmon have held extreme importance to the humans who have inhabited the area. The Native Americans who resided in the area centuries ago, and who now currently reside in nearby reservations, admired the salmon for its beauty, as well as its characteristics that separate it from other types of fish. The Native Americans admired the salmon’s ability to return to its birthplace to spawn, and as a result, embraced the salmon as a part of their culture along with the other wild animals from the area. Salmon were “carved onto totem poles and celebrated in ancient songs,” and commonly smoked and then eaten (Andrus). The local tribes today continue to celebrate the salmon and embrace it as a part of their …show more content…

Salmon fishing, both commercial and sport, is a large industry that has created jobs for many Americans. Jobs are needed to create salmon fishing supplies, to work on boats where they are caught, to catch the salmon, and to market and sell them. Without these jobs, there would be more unemployed Americans in a country that already struggles with unemployment. The high economic value of salmon is also of vital importance to the economy. The industry is worth millions of dollars, and helps to boost the economy.
Another reason salmon are of high importance is their place in the food web and ecosystem that keeps nature balanced. Without salmon, the animals above them in the food web would lose a food source, and they would either die from lack of food, or die from competition with other animals for a different food source. Without salmon, the ecosystem would be thrown off and more animals may become endangered as a result. Those endangered animals may then become extinct, and the cycle would continue up the food

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