Trouts and salmons
Pink Salmon
Oncorhynchus
gorbuschaHumpback
Description
To 3'4" (1 m); 35 lb (16 kg).
Elongate, compressed, streamlined. Back steel blue; sides silvery;
back, upper sides, and dorsal, adipose, and caudal fins finely
speckled with black; anal and pelvic fins white-tipped. Spawning
adults brownish red on sides, with greenish bars or mottling. 18–26
gill rakers on first arch. Lateral line with 124–153
scales.
Endangered Status
The Chum Salmon is on the U.S.
Endangered Species List. Naturally spawned populations in the
Columbia River drainage and naturally spawned summer-run populations
in the Hood Canal and its tributaries and in Olympic Peninsula
rivers between Hood Canal and Dungeness Bay are classified as
threatened in Oregon and Washington. The Columbia River catch of
Chum Salmon declined from 700,000 fish in 1928 to 10,000 fish in the
1950s. Habitat destruction, the building of hydroelectric dams on
migratory rivers, overfishing, and competition with introduced fish
are the main threats to the salmon of the Pacific
Northwest.
Habitat
Coastal waters; enters streams to
spawn.
Range
Pacific and Arctic Oceans from Japan to AK
and south to CA; coastal streams south to Sacramento River,
CA.
Discussion
This is an important commercial
species, especially to native peoples, who use it dried or smoked as
winter food for themselves and dogs. It is sometimes referred to as
Dog Salmon. The markings on the sides of spawning adults often
resemble paint that has run.
Trouts and salmons