What is Salmon? Where to find Salmon?

                 What is Salmon? Where to find Salmon?   

   
     The following definition is from  Wiki  "Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Other fish in the same family include trout, char, grayling and whitefish."

     "Various species of salmon display anadromous life strategies while others display freshwater resident life strategies. Salmon are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic and Pacific Ocean . Many species of salmon have been introduced into non-native environments such as the Great Lakes of North America and Patagonia in South America. Salmon are intensively produced in aquaculture in many parts of the world."

      Salmon returns are coming back in some regions in BC, Washington, Oregon and California coast thanks to some hard work by private organizations.  It should be noted that there are 5 different species of salmon and that Chinook (Kings) are the most prized salmon to catch followed by Coho (Silvers), Sockeye (Reds), Chum (Dog salmon) and Pinks (Humpies).

Alaska

      Many rivers in Alaska are running having about half the number of Chinook come back as they did in 2002 with the exception of the Yukon River which has not seen as large a decline. Coho, Sockeye and Pink salmon fishing is still good in most parts of Alaska. Many people speculate that the Pollock fishery has hurt Chinook salmon returns and the Pollock fishery there is experimenting with ways to reduce the number of salmon taken.

British Columbia

Northern British Columbia had good returns of Chinook for 2013 which was much improved over previous years. Southern BC is forecasted to have good Chinook returns for 2014. There was a greatly improved runs of Chinook and Coho going through east coast of Vancouver Island in 2013 . It was the first time in 15 years there were Coho staying in Georgia strait during summer months, however scientists haven’t figured out why this happened. Some of the creeks and small rivers have been getting great returns of Coho and Pink thanks to salmon restoration by private societies.

Washington and Oregon
       There are many small creeks and rivers feeding the Columbia river in both Washington and Oregon that have contributed to to one of the largest returns on the Columbia River for Chinook salmon. Below is are links to the history of salmon enhancement on the Columbia River, as well as a listing of Washington and Oregon Watersheds.

California
      California once again had good Chinook and Coho fishing in 2013. More information coming on this soon.

Russia and Japan
      One third of the wild salmon harvest in the Pacific Rim can be attributed to Japan. Many of the rivers in Japan are dammed and therefore depend on local hatcheries. Both Russian and Japan have had great innovations in salmon enhancement and we will have some of these techniques made available very soon.

(References:This article is based on materials from Internet)