Coho Salmon

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Profile

The fish are grown in net-pens in saltwater. Farmed Coho salmon reach market size when they weigh between four-and-a-half to six kilograms. Coho is farmed exclusively in British Columbia. In 2003, 1,421 tonnes of Coho salmon were produced at a value of $6.1 million.

Basic description

Coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, is a Pacific salmon species. It has two distinguishing features; white gums and a thick caudal peduncle (the "wrist" that joins the tail to the body). The skin has a blue/green sheen with a silver belly. The flesh is reddish-orange, firm to the touch with a moist, delicate flavour.

Background

On the West Coast, salmon farming, starting with chinook, coho and sockeye, was first established around the town of Sechelt, on the Sunshine Coast. The BC industry had such problems with water temperature and algae blooms that by the mid 1980s many companies had left the Sunshine Coast altogether, relocating to remote, northern sites on Vancouver Island. At about the same time, BC farmers began culturing Atlantic salmon in an effort to capitalize on consumer demand. Coho salmon accounts for two per cent of BC's farmed salmon production.

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