BACKGROUND - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 721

Freshwater Fish
Trout are part of the same fish family as salmon, but, with one or two exceptions, they
live in freshwater their entire lives. Interestingly, the trout of British Columbia are more
closely related to Atlantic salmon than to any of the species of Pacific salmon detailed here.
The predominant species is the rainbow trout, common in lakes and rivers throughout the
province. It has an olive-green back and a red strip running along the center of its body.
Many subspecies exist, such as the large Gerrard rainbow trout of the southern interior; the
steelhead, an oceangoing rainbow, inhabits rivers flowing into the Pacific Ocean.
Other trout species present include the bull trout, which struggles to survive through
high levels of fishing and a low reproductive rate. Cutthroat trout, found in high-elevation
lakes, are named for a bright red dash of color that runs from below the mouth almost to the
gills. Colorful brook trout can be identified by their dark-green backs with pale splotches
and purple-sheened sides. Brown trout are the only trout with both black and red spots.
The lake trout, which grows to 20 kilograms (44 pounds), is native to large, deep lakes
throughout the province, but it is technically a member of the char family. The kokanee
is a freshwater salmon native to major lakes and rivers of the southern interior. They are
directly related to sockeye salmon and look similar in all aspects but size (kokanee rarely
grow to over 30 centimeters/12 inches in length), spawning in the same freshwater range as
sockeye.
The whitefish, a light gray fish, is native to lower-elevation lakes and rivers across the
province. Arctic grayling and Dolly Varden trout (named for a colorful character in a
Charles Dickens story) inhabit northern waters. Walleye (also called pickerel) grow to 4.5
kilograms (10 pounds) and are common in sandy-bottomed areas of lakes in northeastern
British Columbia. The monster freshwater fish of British Columbia is the sturgeon, grow-
ing to over 100 kilograms (220 pounds) in size and living for upwards of 100 years.
History
THE EARLIEST INHABITANTS
Human habitation of what is now British Columbia began around 15,000 years ago, when
Homo sapiens migrated from northeast Asia across a land bridge spanning the Bering Strait.
During this time, the northern latitudes of North America were covered by an ice cap, for-
cing these people to travel south down the west coast before fanning out across the ice-free
southern latitudes. As the ice cap receded northward, the people drifted north also, perhaps