Statistics

Sockeye (Red) Salmon
Oncorhynchus nerka

Other names: Red salmon, Blueback (Columbia and Quinault Rivers), Kokanee or "Silver Trout" (landlocked form)
Average size: 5-8 lbs, up to 15 lbs

Sockeye are unique in that they require a lake to rear in as a fry. In Washington state sockeye can be found in Baker Lake, Ozette Lake, Quinault Lake, Lake Washington, and Lake Wenatchee.

Spawning

Sockeye salmon generally spawn in streams that are tributaries to large lakes. These streams can vary in type, ranging from small tributaries to large mainstem rivers and side-channels. Additionally, some sockeye stocks spawn along the shorelines of lakes. Sockeye spawning begins as early as August and can extend through February.

Large rivers that supplied sufficient room for spawning and rearing historically supported huge runs of sockeye, numbering into the millions. One such run still exists today on the Adams River in British Columbia, a tributary to the Fraser River. The Canadian government has built viewing platforms for visitors, and annual runs of over a million sockeye are common.

Rearing

The sockeye fry migrate downstream to the deep waters of nursery lakes upon emergence from spawning sites, and then rear for 1 or 2 years in a lake habitat before migrating to sea. Lake habitats are especially critical to sockeye. Good water quality and production of food organisms are important because survival in lakes can depend upon how fast sockeye grow to a size that reduces their vulnerability to predators.

Body

• Mouth is white with a white gum line
• Almost toothless
• No spots on tail or back
• Large, bright gold, glassy eye

Jaw

The mouth is white and the gum line is white. The lips are fleshy. The teeth are small and well developed in both jaws. There are no teeth on the base of the tongue.

Tail

There are no spots on the tail.

Terminology

Alevin - The lifestage of a salmonid between egg and fry. An alevin looks like a fish with a huge pot belly, which is the remaining egg sac. Alevin remain protected in the gravel riverbed, obtaining nutrition from the egg sac until they are large enough to fend for themselves in the stream.

Anadromous - Fish that live part or the majority of their lives in saltwater, but return to freshwater to spawn.

Emergence - The act of salmon fry leaving the gravel nest.

Fry - A juvenile salmonid that has absorbed its egg sac and is rearing in the stream; the stage of development between an alevin and a parr.

Kype - The hooked jaw many male salmon develop during spawning.

Parr - Also known as fingerling. A large juvenile salmonid, one between a fry and a smolt.

Smolt - A juvenile salmonid which has reared in-stream and is preparing to enter the ocean. Smolts exchange the spotted camouflage of the stream for the chrome of the ocean.

Substrate - The material which comprises a stream bottom.