The word salmon comes from the Latin salmo, which later became samoun in Middle English. Many Native American tribes depended heavily upon salmon in their diet. Early European settlers quickly got tired of a salmon-rich diet, with many indentured servants actually having a clause written into their contracts restricting salmon meals to only once a week.

Salmon was abundant on both the East and West coasts of America. The waters of the Northwest are particularly abundant with salmon, where it is known as "Alaskan turkey." In Hawaii, it is lomi-lomi, a food which is -highlyprized. New England first began canning salmon in 1840, shipping it all the way across the country to California. By 1864, the tables were turned, with California supplying the east with canned salmon.

There are eight species of salmon in North American waters, five in Pacific waters alone. Worldwide, commercial salmon production exceeds one billion pounds annually, with about seventy percent coming from aquaculture salmon farms.

Salmon struggle to enter fresh river water, where they were born, to lay their eggs. With her tail the female digs a nest, or redd, in the gravel, hollowing out a cavity up to 45 cm deep. She prefers a place in a riffle, where the fast-running water will provide an ample supply of oxygen for the eggs. When the nest is ready, the female lays up to 8,000 eggs in the gravel. The male fertilizes them by covering them with a milky substance known as milt. After fertilization, the female covers the eggs with gravel, and remains until death several days later. Pacific salmon, unlike Atlantic salmon, die once spawning is complete.

Smoked salmon comes in a variety of forms, with the most popular being lox. Lox, first appearing in English in 1941, comes from the Yiddish laks, and originated in New York. Lox is cured in salt brine, and preferably is made of Pacific salmon. Of course, the most popular menu item is thin slices of lox on a bagel with cream cheese.

Source: http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blsea20.htm