34 DIVISION OP FISH AND GAME 



PACIFIC SALMONS 

 Members of Genus Oncorhynchus 



There are six species of Pacific salmon, five of them native to the northeast 

 Pacific Ocean. Two of them, the king and silver salmons, are common in California 

 and are described in more detail below. Two others, the red and the chum salmons, 

 are rare visitors to our waters. The fifth species, the pink salmon, spawns irregularly 

 in some Mendocino County streams but is of very minor importance both as a com- 

 mercial and as a game fish in this State. 



All the salmons are anadromous — that is, they spend part of their life in the 

 ocean and then enter fresh water to spawn. During the time that these fish are in 

 streams on their spawning migration, they undergo great changes in appearance and 

 color. The changes are so pronounced that some people believe that the mature fish 

 are not the same species as are found in the ocean. After spawning. Pacific salmon 

 invariably die, differing in this respect from the trouts described on page 37. 



KING SALMON 

 Oncorhynchus tshawytscha 



Relationship: A member of the salmon and trout family, 8almonidae, as are 

 the trouts and the other species of Pacific salmon. 



Distinguishing Characters: The presence of an adipose fin; the dorsal fin 

 composed of soft rays ; the scaly appendage above the base of each ventral fin ; there 

 being less than 30 gill rakers on the first arch, about 135-155 oblique rows of scales 

 crossing the lateral line, normally from 140-185 pyloric caeca (extreme recorded 

 range 93-214), and 15 to 19 rays in the anal fin (the last ray is often branched at the 

 base but is counted as one) . The red salmon has more gill rakers, the pink salmon more 

 oblique rows of scales, the silver salmon fewer pyloric caeca, while the chum salmon 

 usually and the trouts always have fewer anal rays. These fish change greatly in 

 appearance after they enter fresh water and become sexually mature. Figure 8 shows 

 an ocean fish, a mature male, and a mature female. Reaches a maximum weight of 

 over 100 pounds, but specimens over 50 pounds are uncommon and Sacramento River 

 fish average only about 20 pounds. Mature fish, nearly always males, weighing as 

 little as three or four pounds are common and are not unknown under a pound. 

 Color: At sea: bluish to dark gray above becoming silvery on the sides and belly; 

 black spots on the back and both lobes of the tail. Mature fish in streams : blackish 

 with dark coloration on the sides of the head ; the males, especially the larger fish, 

 with dull red blotches. 



Distribution: At sea, from Southern California to Alaska and south on the 

 Asiatic side to the Amur River on the mainland and Japan ; rare in Southern Cali- 

 fornia. Enters large streams to spawn ; it is the only species of salmon in the Sacra- 

 mento-San Joaquin system. Rarely enters streams south of San Francisco Bay. 



Fishing Season: Consult fish and game laws for both commercial and sport 

 regulations. Varies by districts. 



Importance: California's ninth fishery in poundage and fifth in value in 1946. 

 (Catch figures include the silver salmon, which forms the smaller proportion of the 

 catch). Once the leading fishery of the State and still one of the most important in 

 Central and Northern California. The bulk of the catch is sold fresh, the balance being 

 smoked, salted, cured or canned. One of our most desirable game fishes. 



Fishing Gear: Trolling in the ocean; gill and trammel nets in part of the 

 Sacramento-San Joaquin River system. Consult fish and game regulations. Sportsmen 

 troll or use hook and line with various lures and baits. 



Unauthorized Names: Chinook salmon, quinnat salmon, tyee salmon, spring 

 salmon, black salmon, dog salmon, chub salmon, silver salmon, hookbill, Sacramento 

 River salmon, Columbia River salmon. 



