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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Oncorhynchus keta
Chum Salmon

 
Scientific Name: Oncorhynchus keta (Walbaum, 1792)
English Name: Chum Salmon
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vertebrate Animal
Species Code: F-ONKE
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Craniata Actinopterygii Salmoniformes Salmonidae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G5 (May 2016)
Provincial Status: SNR (Aug 2019)
BC List: Not Reviewed
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 4 - Secure (2005)
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description: Numerous small scales; one dorsal fin plus one adipose fin; no spines in fins; back and tail lack distinct large black spots; first gill arch has 18-28 short, stout, smooth gill rakers; upper side of large individuals is steel-blue, with black speckles; sides silvery; silvery to white belly; tips of caudal, anal, and pectoral fins tinged black in males. Spawning males are dark olive to black on the upper side, with vertical red or dusky bars or blotches on green sides and white-tipped anal and pelvic fins. Spawning females are similar but less distinctly marked. Young have 6-14 narrow, short parr marks on each side. Total length to around 102 cm.
Global Reproduction Comments: In many areas, chum salmon enter streams in distinct seasonal runs (e.g., summer and fall). In Washington, spawning usually occurs in fall, October-December. In California, spawning has been observed from early August to early February. Spawning adults generally are 2-5 years old, sometimes up to seven years old. Adults die within about a week after spawning. Depending on water temperature, eggs hatch in several months, and the alevins complete yolk absorption within the gravel environment. Fry migrate directly to the sea soon after emergence, with a peak in April-May in Washington, spending relatively little time in fresh water.

Global Ecology Comments: Transplanting attempts have been unsuccessful outside natural range.
Migration Characteristics:
(Global / Provincial)		 
    Nonmigrant:
    Local Migrant:
    Distant Migrant:
    Within Borders Migrant: 		N /
Y /
Y /
na /
Global Migration Comments: Anadromous. Adults return to spawn in areas where they were hatched. Individuals may move up to 2,000 km upstream to spawn in rivers lacking major barriers (Lee et al. 1980).
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence)
Global Habitat Comments: Chum salmon spend most of their lives (2-7 years, usually 3-5 years) in the ocean. Adults return to spawn in streams where they hatched, sometimes moving up to 2,000 km upstream in rivers lacking major barriers in Alaska and Canada but usually spawning not far from salt water (usually within 100 km). Spawning occurs in gravel riffles in rivers and streams of various sizes. The female digs a redd, or nest, by displacing gravel and making depressions in an area of about 2.25 sq meters (Moyle 1976).
Food Habits: Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Piscivore: Adult, Immature
Global Food Habits Comments: In fresh water juveniles feed on Diptera larvae, diatoms, and cyclops; in salt water they feed on a variety of zoo- plankton. Adults feeds on: polychaetes, pteropods, squid, crustacean larvae, copepods, amphipods, fish (Wydoski and Whitney 1979).
Global Phenology:
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Colonial Breeder: N
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): 100/ /
Elevation (m) (min / max): Global: 
Provincial: 
   
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: This species has the widest natural range of all the Pacific salmon species. In Asia, the range extends from Korea north to the Arctic Ocean and west along the coast of northern Asia to the Lena River/Laptev Sea. In North America, chum salmon occurred historically from the Sacramento River drainage, California (rarely the San Lorenzo River, southern California), to northwestern Alaska, and east along the arctic coast to the Anderson and Mackenzie rivers, Northwest Territories (Salo 1991). The species is now rare or locally extirpated from southern Oregon southward. Immatures are widely distributed over the North Pacific Ocean. See Frissell (1993) for a map indicating present and former distribution in the Pacific Northwest and California.
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: Hammerson, G.
Last Updated: Jan 21, 2010
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
   
References and Related Literature
Frissell, C. A. 1993. Topology of extinction and endangerment of native fishes in the Pacific Northwest and California (U.S.A.). Conservation Biology 7(2):342-354.
Huntington, C., W. Nehlsen, and J. Bowers. 1996. A survey of healthy native stocks of anadromous salmonids in the Pacific Northwest and California. Fisheries 21(3):6-14.
Lee, D. C., and J. Hyman. 1992. The stochastic life-cycle model (SLCM): simulating the population dynamics of anadromous salmonids. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Paper INT-459, Ogden, Utah. 30 pp.
Lee, D. S., C. R. Gilbert, C. H. Hocutt, R. E. Jenkins, D. E. McAllister, and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina. i-x + 854 pp.
Meffe, G. K. 1992. Techno-arrogance and halfway technologies: salmon hatcheries on the Pacific coast of North America. Conservation Biology 6:350-354.
Morrow, J.E. 1980. The freshwater fishes of Alaska. Alaska Northwest Publishing Company, Anchorage, AK. 248 pp.
Moyle, P. B. 1976a. Inland fishes of California. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. 405 pp.
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). 10 March 1998. Proposed threatened status and designated critical habitat for Hood Canal summer-run chum salmon and Columbia River chum salmon. Federal Register 63(46):11774-11795.
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). 25 March 1999. Threatened status for two ESUs of chum salmon in Washington and Oregon. Federal Register 64(57):14508-14517.
Nehlsen, W., J. E. Williams, and J. A. Lichatowich. 1991. Pacific salmon at the crossroads: stocks at risk from California, Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. Fisheries 16(2):4-21.
Nielsen, J. L., editor. 1995. Evolution and the aquatic ecosystem: defining unique units in population conservation. American Fisheries Society Symposium 17, Bethesda, Maryland. xii + 435 pp.
Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp.
Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.
Salo, E. O. 1991. Life history of chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta). Pages 231-309 in C. Groot and L. Margolis, editors. Pacific salmon life histories. University of British Columbia Press, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. xv + 564 pp.
Scott, W. B., and E. J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Bulletin 184. 966 pp.
Slaney, T. L., K. D. Hyatt, T. G. Northcote, and R. J. Fielden. 1996. Status of anadromous salmon and trout in British Columbia and Yukon. Fisheries 21(10):20-35.
Stearley, R. F. 1992. Historical ecology of Salmoninae, with special reference to Oncorhynchus. Pages 622-658 in R.L. Mayden, editor. Systematics, historical ecology, and North American freshwater fishes. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. xxvi + 969 pp.
Thomas, J. W., Ward, J., Raphael, M.G., Anthony, R.G., Forsman, E.D., Gunderson, A.G., Holthausen, R.S., Marcot, B.G., Reeves, G.H., Sedell, J.R. and Solis, D.M. 1993. Viability assessments and management considerations for species associated with late-successional and old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest. The report of the Scientific Analysis Team. USDA Forest Service, Spotted Owl EIS Team, Portland Oregon. 530 pp.
Waples, R. S. 1990a. Conservation genetics of Pacific salmon. II. Effective population size and the rate of loss of genetic variability. Journal of Heredity 81:267-276.
Waples, R. S. 1990b. Conservation genetics of Pacific salmon. III. Estimating effective population size. Journal of Heredity 81:277-289.
Waples, R. S., and D. J. Teel. 1990. Conservation genetics of Pacific salmon. I. Temporal changes in allele frequency. Conservation Biology 4:144-156.
Williams, J. E., J. A. Lichatowich, and W. Nehlsen. 1992b. Declining salmon and steelhead populations: new endangered species concerns for the West. Endangered Species Update 9(4):1-8.
Wydoski, R. S., and R. R. Whitney. 1979. Inland fishes of Washington. The University of Washington Press, Seattle. 220 pp.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2010. Species Summary: Oncorhynchus keta. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Nov 1, 2026).