Salmon Salmon leave the river as young fish and spend two to five years at sea. Six species are found in the river. They are caught during the season they return to lay eggs in the river or stream where they were born. The Sping salmon (also called Chinook or King) arrive in spring, followed by Sockeye, Chum (Dog), Coho and Pink (Humpback) over several months. In fall they lay eggs and then die. The young hatch the following spring. Through the winter months, Steelhead salmon (formerly considered trout), return to the river to spawn. They are the only Pacific salmon that return to spawn more than once, as Atlantic salmon do.

Smokehouse in a stump for smoking salmon and ooligan at Bella Coola, 1900

Though villages have been abondoned and family groups now live together in one village, the oral tradition for village groups has survived, allowing ancestral families to retain many of their origin stories, art forms and ceremonies. Foods of the River The Bella Coola River is a good provider as fish can be found in the river year-round. Some fish remain in the river all year, such as dolly varden (char), whitefish, and cut throat and rainbow trout. Others spend much of their lives at sea and return during specific seasons to spawn, including the ooligan and several species of salmon.

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