Field guideTidalDFO, federal

How to tell BC salmon apart

Five species, and the rules for each are different enough that getting it wrong matters. These are the marks you can check with a wet fish in your hands, in the order that settles it fastest.

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The quick key

Are there spots on the tail?
- Big oval blotches on both lobesPink
- Small spots on both lobesChinook, confirm with black gums
- Small spots on the upper lobe onlyCoho, confirm with white gums
- No spots at allSockeye or chum, go to the eye
No spots: what does the eye look like?
- Pupil nearly fills the eye, body looks yellowishChum
- Normal pupil, clean silver, slim bodySockeye
Spotted tail: what colour are the gums at the base of the lower teeth?
- BlackChinook
- WhiteCoho

Chinook salmon

Where it's open

Also called King, Tyee, Blackmouth, Spring

In the salt, bright

On the spawning grounds

Black gums and spots on both tail lobes.

Tail: Spots on both the top and bottom lobes of the tail.
Body: Blue-grey back, silvery sides. Small, irregular black spots on the back and dorsal fin.
Gums: Black mouth with black gums at the base of the teeth on the lower jaw. This is the one that settles chinook against coho.
Also look for: Largest of the five. Heavy shoulders and a thick tail wrist.
Spawning colours: Loses the silver and turns maroon to olive brown on the spawning grounds.
Mistaken for: Coho. Open the mouth: chinook gums are black, coho gums are white.

Coho salmon

Where it's open

Also called Silver, Blueback (jack)

In the salt, bright

On the spawning grounds

White gums and spots on the top tail lobe only.

Tail: Spots on the upper lobe of the tail only, and the lower lobe stays clean.
Body: Greenish-blue back, silvery sides. Small black spots on the back and dorsal fin.
Gums: Black mouth, but white gums at the base of the teeth on the lower jaw.
Also look for: Broad, squarer tail than chinook. Fine-scaled and deep-bodied for its length.
Spawning colours: Head goes greenish-black and the body dark brown to maroon.
Mistaken for: Chinook. Check the gums first, then the lower tail lobe.

Pink salmon

Where it's open

Also called Humpy, Humpback

In the salt, bright

On the spawning grounds

Big oval blotches on both tail lobes, and tiny scales.

Tail: Large black oval blotches on both tail lobes, much bigger than any other salmon's spots.
Body: Blue-grey back, silvery sides. Large spots on the back.
Gums: Not needed. The tail blotches give it away on their own.
Also look for: Very small scales. Smallest of the five. Slim body with no shoulders.
Spawning colours: Males grow a pronounced hump on the back before spawning, which is where the name comes from.
Mistaken for: A small chinook. Pink blotches are oval and huge; chinook spots are small and irregular.

Sockeye salmon

Where it's open

Also called Red, Blueback

In the salt, bright

On the spawning grounds

No spots anywhere, and a slim, clean body.

Tail: No distinct spots on the back, dorsal fin or tail.
Body: Dark blue-black back, silvery sides. No spots.
Gums: Not needed. Nothing else in the five is both spotless and this slim and silver.
Also look for: Large gold-flecked eye. Slender, torpedo shape. Fine, smooth-looking flank.
Spawning colours: The famous one: dull-green head over a brick-red to scarlet body.
Mistaken for: Chum, the other spotless one. Chum is heavier, duller and has a much bigger pupil.

Chum salmon

Where it's open

Also called Dog, Keta, Calico

In the salt, bright

On the spawning grounds

No spots, and a pupil that nearly fills the eye.

Tail: No distinct spots on the back or tail.
Body: Dull grey back, yellowish-silver sides. No spots.
Gums: Not needed. Go by the eye and the colour instead.
Also look for: Large pupil covering nearly the whole eye. Faint bars or a calico pattern showing through even at sea. Deep body and a narrow tail wrist.
Spawning colours: Olive-green back and maroon sides crossed by irregular dull red bars. Males grow big canine-like teeth, which is where the name dog salmon comes from.
Mistaken for: Sockeye, the other spotless one. Chum looks dirtier and yellower, with that oversized pupil.

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.

Illustrations here are drawn to show the marks clearly, not to be portraits. Colours shift with how long a fish has been out of the salt, and a fish that has started to change can be genuinely hard to call. If you are not sure, let it go.

Where each species is open Current Fishery Notices Glossary of the terms in the rules Field cards for your phone

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.