PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES 411 



January 1, 1929. The author is indebted to the Pacific Fisherman, 

 of Seattle, Wash., for certain ilhistrations and to George C. Teal for 

 permission to use his copyrighted picture shown as Figure 11. Most 

 of the illustrations are from pictures taken by the author. 



THE SPECIES OF SALMON AND THE RUNS 



The Pacific coast salmons are all included in the genus Oncorhyn- 

 chus. With them the fishermen incorrectly class the steelhead trout, 

 which really belongs to the closely related genus Salmo. 



As long ago as 1731 the species of Oncorhynchus were first made 

 known by Steller, who, almost simultaneously with Krascheninikov, 

 another early investigator, distinguished them with perfect accuracy 

 under theii' Russian vernacular names. In 1792 Walbaum adopted 

 these vernacular names in a scientific nomenclature for these fishes. 



Five species of salmon (Oncorhynchus) are found in the waters 

 of the north Pacific, ranging northward from Monterey Bay on the 

 American Coast and Japan on the Asiatic, the extreme northern 

 distribution of certain of the species having not yet been accurately 

 determined. The five species are: (1) Oncorhynchus tschawytscha, 

 quinnat, tyee, chinook, spring, or king salmon; (2) Oncorhynchus 

 nerka, blueback, red, sukkegh, or sockeye salmon; (3) Oncorhynchus 

 kisutch, silver, silverside, coho, or white salmon; (4) Oncorhynchus 

 keta, chum or keta salmon; and (5) Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, hump- 

 back or pink salmon. 



CHINOOK, QUINNAT, OR KING SALMON 



The largest of the Pacific salmons is the chinook or king salmon (0. 

 tschawytscha). It is found throughout the region from the Ventura 

 River, CaUf., to Norton Sound, Alaska, and on the Asiatic coast as 

 far south as northern China. As knowledge extends, it will probably 

 be recorded in the Arctic. 



In the spring the body is silvery, the back, dorsal fin, and caudal 

 fin having more or less of round black spots, and the sides of the 

 head having a peculiar tin-colored metallic luster. In the fall the 

 color is, in some places, black or dirty red. The fish has an average 

 weight of about 22 pounds, but individuals weighing 70 to over 100 

 pounds are occasionally taken. One was caught near Klawak, 

 Alaska, in 1909, which weighed 101 pounds wdthout the head. The 

 Yukon River is supposed to produce the finest examples, although 

 this supposition is not based on very reliable observations. The 

 southeast Alaska fish average as high as 23 pounds in certain seasons, 

 followed by an average of about 22 pounds in the Columbia River 

 and about 16 pounds in the Sacramento. 



In most places the flesh is of a deep salmon red, but in certain 

 places, notably southeast Alaska, Bristol Bay, Puget Sound, and 

 British Columbia, many of the fish, the proportion being sometimes 

 as much as one-third of the catch, have white flesh. A few examples 

 have been taken with one side of the body red and the other white, 

 wliile some are found with mottled flesh. No reasonable explanation 

 of this phenomenon has yet been given. 



In its southern range the quinnat strikes in at Monterey Bay in 

 sufficient numbers to justify commercial fishing about the middle of 

 April, where it is seen feeding upon the inshore moving schools of 



