Salmon Swim Upstream on Hokkaido’s Shiretoko Peninsula in Mating Season

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:39 JST, October 19, 2024

Salmon push their way upstream to where they will spawn, on Hokkaido’s Shiretoko Peninsula. Near the mouth of the Onnebetsu River in the town of Shari, Hokkaido, female salmon with roundish faces lay their eggs on the river bottom. Then pointy-nosed males approach the eggs, open their mouths wide and spray their sperm onto the eggs. According to the town’s Utoro fisheries cooperative, salmon runs can be seen until around December.