Sockeye Salmon Fishing

Sockeye Salmon (sea-run phase)

Other names—sockeye, red salmon, blueback salmon, big redfish; French: saumon nerka; Japanese: beni-zake, himemasu. The landlocked form is called kokanee salmon, Kennerly’s salmon, kokanee, landlocked sockeye, kickininee, little redfish, silver trout; French: kokani.

A member of the Salmonidae family, the sockeye is like some other members of the Pacific salmon group in having both anadromous and freshwater forms. The former migrate from freshwater streams to the ocean and then return to those streams to spawn, whereas the latter remain in freshwater all their lives. Called kokanee, the freshwater form was once thought to be the subspecies O. kennerlyi but is now accepted as the same species with characteristics identical to that of the anadromous sockeye, although it is a smaller fish. It occurred naturally in some waters in the drainages of the Pacific and has been spread through stocking to many other waters. Kokanee can be fine gamefish and excellent food fish; sockeye salmon are predominantly prized more for their food value than for sport, however, as the upstream migrants are not aggressive at taking baits or lures.

The name of sockeye salmon is a corruption of the coastal Indian word suk-kegh, which meant medium salmon. Sockeye leave the ocean to spawn in freshwater, as do other Pacific salmon, but they enter only those rivers having lakes at their headwaters. These fish were so abundant historically, especially in North America, that they left indelible imprints on the culture and geography of states and provinces. Many place names were derived from these salmon, and the spawning red sockeye were both an important food source and an element of religion for native tribes. In some places they remain an important mainstay of many subsistence users. The erection of dams and alteration of habitat, however, as well as commercial overfishing and other factors, have caused an overall decline in sockeye stocks and the loss of some specific runs. Sockeye populations in the Pacific Northwest outside of Alaska are especially troubled.

The flesh of the sockeye is deep red and high in oil content, making it the most commercially valuable of all the Pacific salmon. The meat is especially delicious when smoked, excellent for canning due to the rich orange red color, and also marketed fresh, dried/salted, and frozen. Canned sockeye salmon is marketed primarily in the United Kingdom and the United States; most frozen sockeye salmon is purchased by Japan. Sockeye salmon roe is also valuable, and is salted and marketed to Japan.

Identification

Sockeye Salmon (spawning male)

The sockeye is the slimmest and most streamlined of Pacific salmon, particularly immature and pre-spawning fish, which are elongate and somewhat laterally compressed. They are metallic green blue on the back and top of the head, iridescent silver on the sides, and white or silvery on the belly. Some fine black speckling may occur on the back, but large spots are absent. Juveniles in freshwater have the same general coloration as immature sockeye salmon in the ocean but are less iridescent; they also have dark, oval parr marks on their sides. These parr marks are short, less than the diameter of the eye, and rarely extend below the lateral line.

Breeding males develop a humped back and elongated, hooked jaws filled with sharp, enlarged teeth. Both sexes turn brilliant to dark red on the back and sides, pale to olive green on the head and upper jaw, and white on the lower jaw. The totally red body distinguishes the sockeye from the otherwise similar chum salmon, and the lack of large, distinct spots distinguishes it from the remaining three Pacific salmon of North America. The number and shape of gill rakers on the first gill arch further distinguish the sockeye from the chum salmon; sockeye salmon have 28 to 40 long, slender, rough or serrated closely set rakers on the first arch, whereas chum salmon have 19 to 26 short, stout, smooth rakers.

Kokanee are smaller but otherwise identical to sea-run sockeye in coloration; they undergo the same changes as sockeye when spawning.

Size

Adult sockeye usually weigh between 4 and 8 pounds. The all-tackle world record is an Alaskan fish that weighed 15 pounds, 3 ounces. Kokanee are much smaller; in many places they do not grow much over 14 inches or 1 pound, especially where the plankton food resource is low or where many other species compete for it; the all-tackle world record is a British Columbia fish that weighed 9 pounds, 6 ounces.

Distribution

The sockeye salmon is native to the northern Pacific Ocean and its tributaries from northern Hokkaido, Japan, to the Anadyr River, Russia, and from the Sacramento River, California, to Point Hope, Alaska. Kokanee exist in Japan, Russia, Alaska, at least three western provinces in Canada, seven western U.S. states, and three eastern states.

Habitat

Sockeye salmon are anadromous, living in the sea and entering freshwater to spawn. They mainly enter rivers and streams that have lakes at their source. Young fish may inhabit lakes for as many as four years before returning to the ocean. Kokanee occur almost exclusively in freshwater lakes, migrating to tributaries in the fall to spawn (or to outlet areas or shoreline gravel in waters without suitable spawning streams).

Life history/Behavior

Sockeye salmon return to their natal stream to spawn after spending one to four years in the ocean. Mature sockeye salmon that spend only one year in the ocean are called jacks and, almost without exception, are males. They enter freshwater systems from the ocean during the summer months or fall, some having traveled thousands of miles. Most populations show little variation in their arrival time on the spawning grounds from year to year; kokanee spawn from August through February, sockeye from July through December.

Once near their natal system, these fish use olfactory cues to guide them home. Freshwater systems with lakes produce the greatest number of sockeye salmon, as fish run upstream to just below a lake outlet, some spawning in the lake itself or in inlet streams. The female selects the spawning site, digs a nest, or redd, with her tail, and deposits eggs in the downstream portion of the redd. One or more males swims beside her and fertilizes the eggs as they are released. After each spawning act, the female covers the eggs by dislodging gravel at the upstream end of the redd with her tail while males drive off intruders. Depending on size, a female produces from 2,000 to 4,500 eggs. Like all Pacific salmon, sockeye die within a few weeks after spawning.

Eggs hatch during the winter, and the young alevins remain in the gravel, living off the material stored in their yolk sacs until early spring. At this time they emerge from the gravel as fry and move into rearing areas. In systems with lakes, juveniles usually spend one to three years in freshwater before migrating to the ocean in the spring as smolts weighing only a few ounces. In systems without lakes, however, many juveniles migrate to the ocean soon after emerging from the gravel.

Although most sockeye salmon production results from the spawning of wild populations, some runs have been developed or enhanced through human effort.

Food and feeding habits

Anadromous salmon rarely feed after entering freshwater, although young fish will feed mainly on plankton and insects. In the ocean, sockeye salmon continue to feed on plankton, plus crustacean larvae, larval and small adult fish, and occasionally on squid. Kokanee feed mainly on plankton but also on insects and bottom organisms.