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Government of Yukon > Environment > Fishing > Yukon Fish Species > Chinook Salmon

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Chinook Salmon

Oncorhynchus tshawytacha

Physical Characteristics

• Other names for this Pacific salmon include springs, kings, or tyee when they are more than 30 pounds.
• The top half of the back (including the dorsal fin and both lobes of the tail fin) is heavily marked with irregular black spots and gums in the lower jaw are black.
• At spawning time, their backs are dark, with the sides being pink to dark reddish in colour.
• The male snout is elongated and strongly hooked.
• The adult fish average 15-20 pounds, but fish of 65 pounds have been taken in the Yukon River and its tributaries.
  

 

Habitat

• The young spend their first year in freshwater lakes or quiet backwaters of the mainstem Yukon before migrating downstream as smolts. They arrive back as 4-7 year old fish ready to spawn.

 

Additional Resources

• How to Catch Them - Salmon

 

 

Contact Fish and Wildlife, Fisheries Environment Yukon Government of Yukon Box 2703 (V-5A) Whitehorse, Yukon Canada Y1A 2C6 Phone: 867-667-5721 Toll free (in Yukon): 1-800-661-0408 local 5721 Fax: 867-393-6263 Email: fisheries@gov.yk.ca

Last Updated: April 11, 2011 | © 2012 Government of Yukon | Copyright | Privacy Statement | Disclaimer