King Salmon
by Tommy
The king salmon is a common salmon in Alaska and is the biggest
Pacific salmon. It is also known as the 'Chinook.' They often
weigh 30 pounds or more. The largest one on record is 126 pounds
and was caught in a fish trap in Petersburg, Alaska in 1949.
Adult king salmon have black spots on their back, dorsal fins and on both sides of their tail fin. They also have a black color along the gum line.
King salmon are 'anadromous' which means that they move from salt water into fresh water streams for breeding. They hatch in fresh water, spend part of their life in the ocean and then spawn in fresh water. After spawning, all chinooks die like all salmon.
There is a single run of chinook salmon every year. It starts in May and goes through July in Alaskan streams. During the freshwater migration, King salmon do not feed.
The female lays from 3,000 to 14,000 eggs in several gravel nests, or 'redds.'
There are lots of king salmon all the way from the Yukon River to the southeastern panhandle of Alaska.
This King salmon looks like a real fish, but it is not. This is just a model. A few years ago, some fifth graders at Hermon Hutchens raised money to buy it so it could be displayed in our library.
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