Chum Salmon
Latin Name: Oncorhynchus keta
Family: Salmonidae
Other Names: Dog salmon, calico salmon, keta salmon, fall salmon

Appearance: Juveniles are green-backed, silver-sided with faint parr markings. Ocean adults have metallic blue backs, silvery sides, white belly, with black speckling but no distinct spotting.
Spawning Chum develop "calico" red-striped blotches and markings, and males develop hooked noses and large teeth. Average weight: 3.5 - 4.5 kilograms, average length 65 centimetres.

Range: Southern California to Arctic Alaska, Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea and Mackenzie River. Northward through Russia, Japan and Korea.

Life History: Chum spawn in streams and tidal water close to sea, and move quickly to coastal estuaries after hatching. After several months, they move out to sea, returning to spawn close to tidal waters in their third, fourth or fifth year.

Further Facts:
Far and Wide: Second only to pink salmon in abundance, chum salmon have the widest natural geographical range of the Pacific salmon. They inhabit more than eight hundred rivers in British Columbia alone! Spawning chum tend to stay close to the ocean, although a few populations migrate thousands of kilometres up larger rivers such as the Yukon. In coastal estuaries and tidal flats, chum are especially threatened by urban development and resulting wetland elimination.

What Big Teeth You Have: Spawning chum are also known as "dog salmon," because of the large canine-like teeth which develop in spawning males.

Low-Fat Alternative: Although it is sold fresh, frozen and smoked, chum salmon has a paler flesh and lower fat content than other salmon, and is not as suitable for canning. In the far north, chum is used as a sled dog food.

Staying in School: Unlike spawning salmon of other species, chum salmon form predator-protective schools on their journey back to natal streams.