Salmon life cycle Female salmon clean a small section of the river where she will deposit her eggs. Immediately a male salmon will fertilize her eggs. Then the female salmon covers the eggs and defends them for a few days. Eggs hatch and fry are born. The small fish stay in back waters and feed on insects. As they grow they move to main channels downstream. They grow and develop organs that will be suitable to life in the ocean. Once they leave the rivers they stay move into the oceans where they will stay for 2-5 years before returning to the same section of the river where they were born. What amazes me is that salmon can find their way back to the same rivers to spawn and create new life. Salmon and Steelhead are categorized as endangered is correct. Their numbers are not what they once were and they are risk of being extinct on the Russian River. They are on the endangered species list so that they can get the p...