Pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) is a saltwater, freshwater, brackish species recorded in the United States. It is found at depths of 0–250 m.
Scientific name: Oncorhynchus gorbuscha · Water: Saltwater, Freshwater, Brackish
Size: up to 76 cm
The pink salmon is an anadromous salmonid that inhabits the ocean and coastal streams; it is pelagic at sea, and in fresh water it lives in montane and piedmont rivers with a moderate to fast current and a gravel bottom. It spawns in riffles or at the head of riffles in shallow water over clean coarse gravel, and it spends 18 months at sea before migrating back to spawn; because its homing is less certain and there is a degree of wandering, streams as much as 640 km from its natal stream may be used. On emerging from the gravel the fry move downstream at once and remain inshore for a few months before going out to sea. It is recorded from the surface down to 250 m. Its range is the Arctic and Pacific drainages from the Mackenzie River delta in the Northwest Territories to the Sacramento River drainage in California, with occasional records as far as La Jolla, and it also occurs in north-east Asia. Maximum length is about 76 cm total length, commonly about 50.5 cm, and it matures at about 45 cm. It is a highly commercial species and a gamefish, with a low price category. Fishing vulnerability is moderate at 37 of 100 and resilience medium, and climate vulnerability is moderate to high at 46 of 100. IUCN lists it as least concern.
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