The diagram depicts the stages that a salmon experiences to become mature.

The diagram depicts the stages that a salmon experiences to become mature. Overall, the lifespan of a salmon includes three main physical stages of development in three distinct aquatic areas, from eggs to large fishes. Salmon begin life as eggs on a pebbly river bed which stick to reeds in the slow-moving upper reaches of a river. After five to six months, the eggs hatch into ‘fry’ which is only three to eight centimeters long. For approximately the following four years, these baby salmons will live in the lower, faster-flowing river reaches in the river. By the time salmon reach twelve to fifteen centimetres, they are termed ‘smolt’ and start migrating into the open sea to live in saltwater area. After five years at sea, the salmon will have grown to adult size, between seventy and seventy-six centimetres, before swimming back to their birthplace, where they lay their eggs and repeat their life cycle.