Everything about Chum Salmon totally explained
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The
chum salmon,
Oncorhynchus keta, is a
species of
anadromous fish in the
salmon family. It is a
Pacific salmon, may also be known as
dog salmon or
Keta salmon, and is often marketed under the name
Silverbrite salmon. The name Chum Salmon comes from the
Chinook Jargon term
tzum, meaning "spotted" or "marked".
Appearance
They have an ocean coloration of silvery blue green. When adults are near spawning, they've purple blotchy streaks near the caudal fin. Unlike other salmon, Chum have no spots. Spawning males typically grow an elongated snout or kype and have enlarged teeth. Some researchers speculate these characteristics are used to compete for mates.
Spawning
Most Chum Salmon
spawn in small
streams and
intertidal zones, especially among stalks of
eelgrass. Some Chum travel more than 3,200 km (2,000 miles) up the
Yukon River. Chum
fry migrate out to sea from March through July, almost immediately after becoming
free swimmers. They spend one to three years traveling long distances in the ocean. These are the last salmon to spawn (November to January). They die about two weeks after they return to the freshwater to spawn. They utilize the lower tributaries of the watershed, tend to build
redds in shallow edges of the watercourse and at the tail end of deep pools. The female lays eggs in the redd, the male sprays sperm on the eggs, and the female covers the eggs with gravel. The female can lay up to 4000 eggs.
Age
Chum can live from 3 to 7 years, and chum in Alaska mature at the age of 4 years.
Distribution
The chum salmon is found in the north
Pacific in the waters of
Korea,
Japan, and the
Okhotsk and
Bering seas (
Kamchatka,
Chukotka,
Kuril Islands,
Sakhalin,
Khabarovsk Krai,
Primorsky Krai),
British Columbia in
Canada, and from
Alaska to
Oregon in the
United States.
Sizes
Adult chum usually weigh from 4.4 to 6.6 kg, with an average length of 60 cm. The record for chum is 16 kg and 102 cm and was caught at Edie Pass in British Columbia.
Diet
Juvenile chum eat
zooplankton and
insects.
Commercial use and value
The chum salmon is the least commercially valuable salmon. Despite being extremely plentiful in Alaska, commercial
fishers often choose not to fish for them because of their low market value. Markets developed for chum from 1984 to 1994 in Japan and northern
Europe which increased demand, though. They are a traditional source of dried salmon.
Conservation
In areas other than Alaska there are few groups of healthy chum remaining. This is partially because of
dams, which block the free flow of the water and the migration of the fish.
Two populations of Chum have been listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act as threatened species. These are the Hood Canal Summer Run population and the Lower Columbia River Population.
Susceptibility to diseases
Chum are thought to be fairly resistant to
whirling disease, but it's unclear.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Chum Salmon'.
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