Coho salmon is a large fish, reaches a length of 98 cm, weight 14 kg. Coho salmon is very different from other salmon in the bright silver color of the scales (hence the Japanese and American names “silver salmon” and the old Russian “white fish”).
It lives along the Asian coast from the Anadyr River along the Kamchatka coast to the rivers of the northwestern part of the Sea of Okhotsk . Occasionally found in eastern Sakhalin and Hokkaido , in the lower Amur rivers.
On the North American coast of the Pacific Ocean is more common, where it lives from Alaska to California ( Sacramento River ).
The sizes of North American fish are larger than those found in the Asian part of the range . Asian representatives of the species reach a length of not more than 88 cm and a mass of not more than 6.8 kg. The largest specimen of coho salmon is fixed at a length of 76 cm with a mass of 7 kg [2] .
It becomes sexually mature in the third, fourth years of life. Premature maturation of some males in fresh waters was noted. Coho salmon enter spawning into rivers much later than other salmon species.
. In Kamchatka , summer, autumn and winter coho salmon are distinguished. Summer spawns in September — October; Autumn - in November — December; winter - in December — January and even in February, and in isolated cases in March. It never spawns in lakes, only in rivers or springs [2] .
During spawning, males become dark crimson, while females acquire a much lighter pinkish tint. After spawning, all individuals die. The bulk of juveniles rolls in the second year of life and very rarely in the third and fourth. It feeds on caddis flies , insects , their larvae, caviar and fish fry.
The marine period of life lasts about a year and a half. Passing coho salmon hibernates in the ocean.
In some lakes ( Sarannoye Lake on Bering Island , near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kotelnoe Lake and in the lakes of the Magadan Region ) forms a residential form, which makes up independent populations.
Residential form reaches puberty in the fourth year of life.
Coho salmon is a valuable commercial fish , but its number is small.
World and Russian catches of coho salmon [3]| Year | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| World catches, thousand tons | 19.0 | 18.2 | 17.0 | 22.0 | 20,0 | 20.9 |
| Russian catches, thousand tons | 0.9 | 1.3 | 3,7 | 3.65 | 3,7 | 4.9 |
In coho salmon meat from 6.1 to 9.5% fat. The coho salmon meat is red, tasty, it contains astaxanthin , vitamins B1 , B2 , minerals and trace elements - iron, molybdenum, nickel, fluorine, zinc, chromium.
