Perhaps you’ve heard about the difficulties that salmon face in places along the West Coast. What you may not know is that many rivers teem with salmon, filling spawning beds and fishing nets alike. The salmon fisheries in Alaska, for example, haul in more than 700 million pounds a year and have been certified as well-managed and sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, an independent international organization.

Seven-year average harvests of chinook, coho, and sockeye, the three species most often found at markets and restaurants, are shown here. Two other species -- pink and chum -- are more often used for canning or smoking. When included, their harvests double the total catch.

One further note: Some wild-caught salmon are actually spawned in hatcheries and then released to roam the oceans -- a practice that, for genetic and other reasons, worries some fishery biologists but can help to bolster a run while restoration work continues.

Future salmon abundance depends on preserving healthy runs and restoring endangered ones. The key lies in strengthening our ties to this land and cherishing its millennia-old relationship between people and salmon. And that -- deliciously -- includes eating them.

Learn more online at www.SalmonNation.com

Seven-year averages for landings of Pacific salmon are totaled from these sources:
U.S National Marine Fisheries Service
Fisheries and Oceans Canada