ABOUT...
ACROSS CANADA
AND...
RESOURCES
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FINFISH SPECIES
CHINOOK SALMON
Introduction
Farmed Chinook salmon reach market size when they weigh between four-and-a-half to six kilograms. Next to Atlantic salmon, Chinook is the second most popular farmed fish species in Canada. It is farmed exclusively in British Columbia (BC). In 2003, 15,719 tonnes of Chinook salmon were produced at a value of $36.8 million.
Basic description
Chinook, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, is a Pacific salmon species. They are noted for having black gums and small, round spots on the back, dorsal fin and both upper and lower parts of the tail. The flesh is pink to red and has a rich, buttery taste with a delicate texture due to the high oil content.
Background
On the West Coast, salmon farming, starting with chinook, coho and sockeye, was first established around the town of Sechelt, on the Sunshine Coast. The BC industry had such problems with water temperature and algae blooms that by the mid 1980s many companies had left the Sunshine Coast altogether, relocating to remote, northern sites on Vancouver Island. At about the same time, BC farmers began culturing Atlantic salmon in an effort to capitalize on consumer demand. Chinook salmon accounts for 22 per cent of BC's farmed-salmon production.
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