Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Territory, is located at Milepost 918 of the historic Alaska Highway, and is at 2306 feet elevation. The Gold rush brought stampeders and the railroad. The community grew as a transportation center and transshipment point for freight from the Skagway-Whitehorse railroad and the sternwheelers plying the Yukon River to Dawson City.
The photo above shows a portion of the Whitehorse Fish Ladder - a very important facility for the proliferation of salmon. Salmon became very important to us on this trip - learning about them, fishing for them (well, Joe did), and eating them. Here's the condensed version of the story:
-----For thousands of years, salmon have traveled up the Yukon River to spawn in its many tributaries. Some traveled as far as the Yukon River’s headwaters, near the present day location of the Whitehorse Rapids Fishway. The salmon laid their eggs in the gravel where they developed over the winter and hatched into tiny “alevins” in the early spring. These tiny fish began to feed and grow in the cold, clean water. The young salmon spent one to two years in the river before they made their way to the ocean (the Bering Sea), only to return in a few years as adults to begin the cycle anew.
-----Thus the cycle continued, uninterrupted, until the late 1950s, when the Northern Canada Power Commission built the Whitehorse Rapids Hydroelectric Facility to meet the electricity needs of a growing community. In 1959, the Whitehorse Rapids Fishway, known locally simply as ‘the fish ladder’, was built to help this ancient migration continue by allowing passage of the salmon around the dam. In 1983 and 1984, the Whitehorse Rapids Fish Hatchery began a salmon transplant program in a further effort to build and maintain the salmon stocks.
-----Chinook salmon spawn in fresh water and live and mature in salt water. They also die after spawning only once. Once the adult female deposits her eggs in a gravel nest, the male fertilizes them. Then the eggs incubate in the cold Yukon water throughout the winter. The eggs hatch during late-winter/early spring and the resulting “alevins” remain under the gravel using their yolk-sac as their sole source of nutrients. Once the yolk supply is used up, the small fish (known as ‘fry’ at this stage) emerge from the gravel and begin to feed and grow in their freshwater environment. After spending one winter in fresh water, the fish begin their downstream migration to salt water where they will mature to adults.
-----The young fish (smolts) eventually enter the Bering Sea off the west coast of Alaska. They spend the next 2-6 years (usually 3-5) migrating throughout the North Pacific Ocean. Responding to genetic and environmental triggers, the adults enter the mouth of the Yukon River in early summer and begin a 2000-mile journey upstream, to the same stream or river where they were originally spawned. They don’t eat during the two months it takes them to swim from the Pacific Ocean to Whitehorse, relying instead on stored body fats for energy.
-----Their journey is a perilous one. Many of these salmon become victims of predators and fishing. Only a small portion of the original number survives to pass through the Whitehorse Rapids Fishway. From there, they continue on to the Upper Yukon River tributaries, where they, like their parents, spawn and die, completing their life cycle.
-----At the time of construction a number of structures were designed to ensure that the salmon could bypass the dam and reach spawning grounds upstream. Special underwater screens were installed to stop the fish from swimming into the turbines. A concrete dam or “weir” was built to help direct the fish toward the fishway. An underwater canal was added to help the salmon find their way, and the fish ladder was constructed. At 423 yards long, it is considered to be the longest wooden fishladder in the world.
-----For thousands of years, salmon have traveled up the Yukon River to spawn in its many tributaries. Some traveled as far as the Yukon River’s headwaters, near the present day location of the Whitehorse Rapids Fishway. The salmon laid their eggs in the gravel where they developed over the winter and hatched into tiny “alevins” in the early spring. These tiny fish began to feed and grow in the cold, clean water. The young salmon spent one to two years in the river before they made their way to the ocean (the Bering Sea), only to return in a few years as adults to begin the cycle anew.
-----Thus the cycle continued, uninterrupted, until the late 1950s, when the Northern Canada Power Commission built the Whitehorse Rapids Hydroelectric Facility to meet the electricity needs of a growing community. In 1959, the Whitehorse Rapids Fishway, known locally simply as ‘the fish ladder’, was built to help this ancient migration continue by allowing passage of the salmon around the dam. In 1983 and 1984, the Whitehorse Rapids Fish Hatchery began a salmon transplant program in a further effort to build and maintain the salmon stocks.
-----Chinook salmon spawn in fresh water and live and mature in salt water. They also die after spawning only once. Once the adult female deposits her eggs in a gravel nest, the male fertilizes them. Then the eggs incubate in the cold Yukon water throughout the winter. The eggs hatch during late-winter/early spring and the resulting “alevins” remain under the gravel using their yolk-sac as their sole source of nutrients. Once the yolk supply is used up, the small fish (known as ‘fry’ at this stage) emerge from the gravel and begin to feed and grow in their freshwater environment. After spending one winter in fresh water, the fish begin their downstream migration to salt water where they will mature to adults.
-----The young fish (smolts) eventually enter the Bering Sea off the west coast of Alaska. They spend the next 2-6 years (usually 3-5) migrating throughout the North Pacific Ocean. Responding to genetic and environmental triggers, the adults enter the mouth of the Yukon River in early summer and begin a 2000-mile journey upstream, to the same stream or river where they were originally spawned. They don’t eat during the two months it takes them to swim from the Pacific Ocean to Whitehorse, relying instead on stored body fats for energy.
-----Their journey is a perilous one. Many of these salmon become victims of predators and fishing. Only a small portion of the original number survives to pass through the Whitehorse Rapids Fishway. From there, they continue on to the Upper Yukon River tributaries, where they, like their parents, spawn and die, completing their life cycle.
-----At the time of construction a number of structures were designed to ensure that the salmon could bypass the dam and reach spawning grounds upstream. Special underwater screens were installed to stop the fish from swimming into the turbines. A concrete dam or “weir” was built to help direct the fish toward the fishway. An underwater canal was added to help the salmon find their way, and the fish ladder was constructed. At 423 yards long, it is considered to be the longest wooden fishladder in the world.
-----***Here's an interesting footnote: we learned from our Alaskan friends that you don't really want to eat these salmon. Because of their long journey, they are not as tasty as those caught in the ocean, before they enter the freshwater portion of their journey.
