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Every summer, millions of salmon return to Alaska's streams and rivers to spawn, where they are eagerly greeted
by thousands of fishermen. Sport-fishermen from all around the world travel to the Alaska to catch trophy-size salmon. Kings and Sockeye salmon are the most popular being bright, firm, and rich in
flavor. Alaska is also the home to the legendary Copper River salmon- which are among the most sought-after, and tastiest, salmon in the world.
Wild Alaska salmon are harvested commercially in all coastal regions of Alaska. Salmon are troll-caught,
gill-netted, and purse seined throughout the summer months. Alaska harvests only wild salmon.
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Lightly spotted on their blue
-green back, chinook salmon live from five to seven years, and weigh up to 120 pounds. Known also as Chinook salmon, they have the highest oil-content, which is what gives a salmon its rich flavor.
The king is the largest of all salmon species, and the most desirable to sport fishers.
Blue-tinged silver in color, sockeye salmon live four to five years. They weigh up to 7 pounds, and are the slimmest
and most streamlined of the five species of Alaskan salmon. Known to fishermen in Alaska as reds, the sockeye is historically our most valuable fish because of its
high oil content and ability to hold its bright red flesh color.
Bright silver in color, coho salmon live three years, weigh up to 15 pounds, and are a popular
game fish sought by sport fishers. Coho are known as silvers when caught before full maturity. They are the most popular game fish of the salmon family, as well as one of the most valuable commercial species.
Living only two years, pinks are the smallest of the Pacific salmon, weighing up to 5 pounds, and have heavily spotted backs
over silver bodies. Pink salmon are the most plentiful of the five species.
Resembling sockeye, chum salmon have black specks over their silvery sides, and faint grid-like bars. They live three to five years, and weigh up to 10
pounds. Also known as Keta salmon