Five speciesTidalDFO, federal

Salmon in BC tidal waters

Chinook, coho, pink, sockeye and chum. Every row below tells you what the fish is and where that species is open right now.

Which one is it, and where it's open

Full guide & field key

Start at the tail. It sorts the five in one look. Then confirm the two pairs that get mixed up: the gums for chinook against coho, the eye for sockeye against chum.

Chinook and coho both show spots, so open the mouth and check the gums: chinook black, coho white. Sockeye and chum both come out clean, so go to the eye. A chum's pupil nearly fills it.

Zone counts cover the tidal areas DFO publishes a rule for that species in, which is not always all 29. Rules are merged from the DFO baseline plus any active Fishery Notice.

Wild or hatchery

Plenty of BC openings are hatchery-marked only, so this is often the difference between a fish you can keep and one that has to go back. The mark is a clipped adipose fin: the small fleshy fin on the back between the dorsal fin and the tail, the one with no rays in it.

Adipose fin presentCounted as wild for the purposes of the rules. If an opening says hatchery-marked only, this fish goes back.
Clipped, with a healed scarHatchery-marked. Run a thumb along the back: a clipped fish is smooth where the fin should be.
Two things worth knowing. DFO marks most hatchery coho and many hatchery chinook, not all of them, so an intact adipose fin does not prove a fish is wild. And if you fillet a chinook or coho at sea, the adipose fin or its healed scar has to stay on the fillet so the fish can still be identified. Some hatchery fish also carry a coded wire tag in the snout, which is not something you can see.

Source: Fisheries and Oceans Canada, coho and chinook mass marking. Check the current Fishery Notices for whether your area is hatchery-marked only right now.

Before you go

You need a licence before you fishSaltwater / tidal waters (salmon, halibut, rockfish, crab, prawn): get a BC Tidal Waters sport fishing licence (DFO).

Fishing for salmon in a river instead?

Salmon stay on the same federal DFO licence once they leave tidal water and head up a river, which is a different rulebook from BC's provincial trout, char and kokanee regulations.

Search rivers & streams for salmon rules →
Active Fishery NoticesBrowse by zone insteadTides for these waters

See something wrong?

Rules change in-season and we'd rather hear it from you than have someone fish on bad information. Tell us what looks off and we'll check it against the source.