Salmon is a very popular seafood item that both seafood consumers as well as those who may not consume seafood have heard about at least in passing. However, are you aware of the different kinds of salmon that are consumed as seafood? Whether you do or you don’t, strap yourselves in as we go on a journey to find out more about some of the different kinds of Salmon that are eaten as seafood.

Two groups of Salmon

Scientifically speaking, Salmon belong to a family of fish that go by the scientific name of Salmonidae.
Within this family of fish, the types of Salmon that are commonly consumed can be divided into two groups namely, Atlantic Salmon of which there is one species and Pacific Salmon which include eight different species of Salmon, five of which can be found in North America while the three remaining species are found in parts of Asia.

In our case however, we will be focusing on analysing Atlantic Salmon as well as the five Pacific Salmon found in North America that include the Sockeye Salmon, Pink Salmon, Chum Salmon ,Chinook Salmon and Coho Salmon, seeing how they differ from one another.

A major difference between Atlantic and Pacific Salmon

One key difference between Atlantic and Pacific Salmon lies in a specific physical feature. Pacific Salmon are famous for their bent snouts which have led naturalists to classify them into a subgroup of Salmon called Oncorhynchus, which means bent snout in Greek.
The term refers to the curved snouts of the males of the different varieties of Pacific Salmon.

With that said, let’s dive in deeper into each individual Salmon species shall we?

Wild Atlantic Salmon

We begin our exploration with Atlantic Salmon (wild Atlantic Salmon specifically). Known by the scientific name of Salmo Salar, this Salmon gets its name from the fact that it is found in the Atlantic Ocean near parts of Europe like Iceland and North America such as Canada.
Atlantic Salmon can grow to up to 150 centimetres/4.92 feet in length and can weigh up to 39 kilograms/85.98 pounds.
Their lifespan ranges from 4 to 6 years and they do not die after spawning unlike most other salmon species.
Atlantic Salmon typically spawn about 7500 eggs.
On average, young Atlantic Salmon live for about 2 to 3 years in freshwater after hatching, before heading out to sea where they tend to live for 1 or more years after which, they return to freshwater again to spawn at the age of about 5 to 6 years.
These Salmon are also anadromous, meaning that they can live in both freshwater and seawater.
With regards to the colour of Atlantic Salmon, they are bronze when they are spawning, black when they have completed spawning their eggs in freshwater and silver when they return to sea. Young Atlantic Salmon on the other hand are recognizable for their black stripes.

Farmed Atlantic Salmon

Atlantic Salmon are a favoured species of Salmon for farming because they are reputed to be resistant to disease and mature quickly.
In terms of the life cycle of farmed Atlantic Salmon, it typically unfolds over an approximately 3 year period.There are some ways in which this is done.
In the first method, Atlantic Salmon selected from seabased fish stocks are kept in farms on land where their eggs are taken to be fertilised after which their newborn young (called Alevins) are kept in trays until they become smolt/young salmon.
The process of nurturing Atlantic Salmon up to their juvenile stage takes about a year.
After a year the young Atlantic Salmon are then transferred into sea cages for two years before they reach adulthood and are harvested to be sold for consumption.

Another method of rearing Atlantic Salmon involves them being kept in land based farms that use Recirculating Aquaculture Systems that facilitate the efficient rearing of Atlantic Salmon from birth to maturity like how it is done in the previously mentioned rearing method, in one facility.
These facilities typically have separate tanks designed for every part of the Atlantic Salmon’s life cycle and are reputed to facilitate the effective farming of Atlantic Salmon in an uncontaminated environment thanks to water filtration technology.

Which countries are major exporters of Atlantic Salmon?

Most Atlantic Salmon that is consumed is farmed and comes from countries such as Norway, Chile, Scotland and Iceland to name a few.
As for wild Atlantic Salmon, it is not consumed today due to its low population numbers.
According to research, global production of Farmed Atlantic Salmon averages more than 1 000 000 tonnes.
Furthermore, a recent study showed that in the year 2015, 55.3 percent of global Atlantic Salmon aquaculture was produced in Norway while 25.4 percent of the global production of farmed Atlantic Salmon was produced in Chile.
Not only that, it was reported that Norway which is reputed to be the largest Farmed Atlantic Salmon producer in the world, imported 1.1 million tonnes of the fish in 2020
The Scottish Salmon Farmers Association of Scotland, which is another country that is a major exporter of Farmed Atlantic Salmon reported that in 2019, 24 700 tonnes (valued at £179 000 000 GBP/$252 690 720 USD) of Atlantic Salmon was imported to the USA which is a major market for them.

Which countries are major consumers of Atlantic Salmon?

With regards to countries that are major consumers of Atlantic Salmon, they include Japan, North American countries such as the USA and countries that are part of the European Union.
A recent market analysis by the Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) of the United Nations showed that in 2019, the USA led Japan and the European Union in terms of revenue growth.
That same report also mentioned that Salmon has become the most popular seafood item in the USA since the year 2013.
Furthermore, as mentioned in the section of the largest exporters of Atlantic Salmon, the Scottish Salmon Farmers Association mentioned in a report that France was the largest consumer of their Salmon in the year 2019. The total amount exported was 36 000 tonnes, valued at £221 000 000 GBP/ €257 196 830.20 Euros.
This statistic along with the earlier mentioned statistic on how much Farmed Atlantic Salmon was exported to the USA by the Scottish Salmon Farmers Association, shows how the USA and European Union are major markets for Farmed Atlantic Salmon.
As for Japan, the same 2019 report by the Scottish Salmon Farmers Association mentions that Japan is a major consumer market with exports of Scottish Salmon for 2019 being valued at £97 000 000 GBP/¥14 906 960000 JPY.
Moreover, according to a press release by the Norwegian Seafood Council, in 2020, the amount of Norweigan Atlantic Salmon that was imported to Japan was 40 000 tonnes.
The statistics mentioned in the report by the Scottish Salmon Farmers Association and the press release of the Norwegian show how Japan is a significantly large consumer of Atlantic Salmon.

Names for Atlantic Salmon in other languages

Besides the term Atlantic Salmon in English, this fish is known by a variety of names in different languages. The following table will showcase some names that Atlantic Salmon is known by in other languages:

Name	Language
Saumon de l’Atlantique	French
大西洋三文鱼 (Dàxīyáng sānwènyú)	Chinese (Simplified)
Salmon Atlantik	Malay
대서양 연어 (daeseoyang yeon-eo)	Korean
Atlantshaflax	Icelandic

What does Atlantic Salmon taste like?

Due to Atlantic Salmon possessing a significant amount of Omega 3 fatty acids, it has an oily texture. Nevertheless it also has a mild taste due to the level of fat content that it has.

What is the nutritional value of farmed Atlantic Salmon?

As mentioned earlier, due to the low population of wild Atlantic Salmon, the Atlantic Salmon that is consumed commercially is farmed. You may then wonder about the nutritional value of farmed Atlantic Salmon. We shall use a table to illustrate the differences in nutritional value between both farmed at wild Atlantic Salmon:

Nutrient Name	100 grams/3.5 ounces of farmed Atlantic Salmon	100 grams/3.5 ounces of wild Atlantic Salmon
Calcium	9 milligrams	12 milligrams
Protein	20.42 grams	19.84 grams
Omega 3/n-3 Fatty Acids	2507 milligrams	1723 milligrams
Vitamin A	193 IU/International Units	40 IU/International Units

As can be seen from the table above, there are a few differences between wild and farmed Atlantic Salmon with regards to their nutritional value. That being said, it is important to note that the nutritional value of individual Atlantic Salmon, be it farmed or wild, may vary.

One reason for the variation between wild and farmed Atlantic Salmon could be due to the amount of nutrients in the feed that is given to farmed Salmon that can come from a variety of sources such as anchovies, soy beans, canola oil etc. The ingredients in the feed impact the levels of nutrients found in farmed Atlantic Salmon such as Omega 3 levels for example.

Sockeye Salmon

The first type of Pacific Salmon we will be looking at is the Sockeye Salmon.

This Salmon’s habitat includes the Okhotsk Sea near Hokkaido, Japan to Alaska, California and Oregan in the USA as well as British Columbia in Canada to name a few places.
Sockeye Salmon can grow to up to 84 centimetres/2.75 feet in length and weigh 6.8 kilograms/15 pounds.
Their lifespan can go up to 8 years and they die within weeks of spawning about 2000 to 4500 eggs.
On average, young Sockeye Salmon hatch and stay in freshwater for about 3 years before going to the ocean to mature where they will stay for around 3 years before returning to freshwater to reproduce.
Sometimes young Sockeye Salmon may stay at sea for longer periods of time before returning to freshwater (approximately 5 years) or they may return to freshwater earlier than they typically would.
The colour of Sockeye Salmon ranges from having a green head and red body when in freshwater and silver and metallic green with a blue hump when they are at sea. This attribute has caused the Sockeye Salmon to be called by the alternative names of Red Salmon and Blueback Salmon. juvenile Sockeye Salmon on the other hand have been observed to have dark oval spots on their sides while in freshwater.
While most Sockeye Salmon are anadromous (meaning that they can live in freshwater and saltwater habitats), there is a type of Sockeye Salmon known as Kokanee Salmon that live exclusively in freshwater habitats in parts of Alaska, other parts of North America and in certain lakes in Japan.
Kokanee Salmon are smaller than anadromous Sockeye and grow up to 36.58 cm/1.2 feet in length and weigh up to 2.26 kilograms/5 pounds.
In terms of their lifespan, they can live for up to 7 years. Kokanee Salmon have been observed to spawn up to 1800 eggs.

Which countries are major consumers of Sockeye Salmon?

With regards to which countries are the most prominent consumers of Sockeye Salmon, they include Japan, countries in the European Union and the USA.

For example, according to Russian reports, Japan imported 21 000 tonnes of Sockeye Salmon from Russia.

Which countries are major exporters of Sockeye Salmon

On the other hand, the countries that are major exporters of Sockeye Salmon include the USA (prominently in the state of Alaska) and Russia.

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game the amount of Sockeye Salmon that was harvested by commercial fisheries in Alaska in the year 2020 came up to 46, 554 525 and weighed in at 234 107 110 pounds/106 189 198.85 kilograms. Furthermore the catch volume was approximately valued at $341 556 532 USD.

Names for Sockeye Salmon in other languages

Many of us are familiar with the name for Sockeye Salmon in English but what about other languages? Take a look at the following table for some examples:

Name	Language
Saumon rouge	French
홍 연어 (hong yeon-eo)	Korean
Salmon Sockeye	Malay
红鲑鱼 (Hóng guīyú)	Chinese (Simplified)

Are Sockeye Salmon farmed?

Sockeye Salmon are mostly wild caught, however there are Aquaculture companies that do farm Sockeye Salmon in places such as Canada that use land based farming methods.

Wild caught Sockeye Salmon are typically caught in the summer season (around June and July) when they head to freshwater environments to spawn. Regarding how many Sockeye Salmon are caught on average a year, in Alaska alone, the amount of Sockeye Salmon that is caught at Bristol Bay (the venue where the most amount of Sockeye Salmon is typically caught), can go to up to 30 million Sockeye Salmon. That being said, there are rules in place by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to help make sure that the Sockeye Salmon population in parts of Alaska such as Bristol Bay is kept sustainable.

What do Sockeye Salmon taste like?

Due to Sockeye Salmon having Omega 3 fatty acids, it has a rich flavour profile.

What is the nutritional value of Sockeye Salmon?

Let us now take a look at the nutritional value of Sockeye Salmon as represented in the table below:

Nutrient Name	100 grams/3.5 ounces of Alaska native Sockeye Salmon
Calcium	7 milligrams
Protein	21.9 grams
Omega 3/n-3 Fatty Acids	1060 milligrams
Vitamin A	193 IU/International Units

As can be seen in the table above, Sockeye Salmon (in this case Sockeye Salmon native to Alaska) have a high level of protein. It seems that Sockeye Salmon is higher than that of Atlantic Salmon. However it is also worth noting that, according to this table, Alaskan native Sockeye Salmon and farmed Atlantic Salmon both have the same amount of Vitamin A (do note that the nutritional value of individual fish may vary). Whatever the case, one thing is clear: Sockeye Salmon is packed with a variety of nutrients.

Pink Salmon

The next Pacific Salmon native to North America that we’ll be discussing is Pink Salmon.

Also known as Humpback Salmon in reference to the prominent dorsal humps that male Pink Salmon have(female Pink Salmon do not have dorsal humps). Pink Salmon get their name from the pink colour of their flesh.
Pink Salmon can be found near the Korean Peninsula, Hokkaido and various parts of North America such as California to name a few areas.
Pink Salmon are anadromous and can grow to up to 75 centimetres/2.46 feet in length and can weigh up to 5 kilograms/11 pounds.
Their lifespan is up to 2 years which is the age at which they spawn their eggs.
Typically, Pink Salmon spawn about 1200 to 1900 eggs.
Rapidly after the offspring of Pink Salmon are born in freshwater they quickly head out to saltwater habitats or the sea where they live for a year and a half before returning to freshwater to spawn again.
In terms of their colour, Pink Salmon have a mixture of turquoise, silver and white colouration at sea. Breeding male Pink Salmon turn black and have dark black spots on their sides while females turn olive green with dark gold or lavender spots on their sides. Both genders of breeding Pink Salmon’s bellies are white, whether they are at sea or in freshwater. Young Pink Salmon however are totally silver in colour and have no spots at all.

Which countries are the largest exporters of Pink Salmon?

The countries that are the largest exporters of Pink Salmon are Russia and the USA (particularly the state of Alaska) with catch amounts of varying numbers. At times The global catch of Pink Salmon can average around 160 000 tonnes with Russia having 55 percent of the cash while the USA catches about 42 percent of the global catch.

For example it was reported by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game that in the year 2020, the amount of Pink Salmon that was harvested in Alaska numbered 59 299 276, weighed 207 602 791 pounds/94 167 041.98 kilograms and was valued at about $62 377 598.

Names for Pink Salmon in other languages

You may be familiar with Pink Salmon’s English name, but what about other languages? Here are some names for Pink Salmon in certain different languages.

Name	Language
Saumon rose	French
粉红鲑 (Fěnhóng guīyú)	Chinese (Simplified)
Salmon Merah Jambu	Malay
Горбуша (Gorbusha)	Russian

Are Pink Salmon farmed?

Pink Salmon are primarily wild caught and are not farmed as they are very sensitive to any destabilising change in their environment as most Salmon are. The season in which they are typically caught is in the summer. With regards to the global harvest of wild Pink Salmon, the numbers can vary. For example in 2018, 510000 tonnes of Pink Salmon was caught in Russia while around 74000 tonnes of Pink Salmon was caught in Alaska that same year, making the total global catch an estimated 584000 tonnes of Pink Salmon.

What do Pink Salmon taste like?

Pink Salmon is said to have a mild flavour profile due to its fat content.

What is the nutritional value of Pink Salmon?

We shall now take a look at the nutritional value of Pink Salmon through the following table:

Nutrient Name	100 grams/3.5 ounces of Pink Salmon
Calcium	7 milligrams
Protein	20.5 grams
Omega 3/n-3 Fatty Acids	615 milligrams
Vitamin A	117 IU/International Units

As can be seen from the table above, Pink Salmon nutritional value differs from the other kinds of Salmon that we’ve discussed thus far. This can be seen in the level of Omega 3 fatty acids found within it that seems lower than Sockeye or Atlantic Salmon. That being said, this does not in any way diminish the fact that it has nutritional value. It is also important to remember that nutritional value may vary depending on the individual fish.

Chum Salmon

The next variety of Pacific Salmon that we will be looking at is Chum Salmon.

The word Chum in the fish’s name comes from a Chinook Native American term called ‘Tzum’ that refers to the stripes on their body.
Chum Salmon are also known as Dog Salmon due to the dog-like canine teeth that develop in male Chum Salmon when they reach maturity (female Chum Salmon do not have fangs).
This species of Pacific Salmon is anadromous and can be found in parts of North America as well as near Korea and Japan. Chum Salmon are said to be the second largest Pacific Salmon that can be found in North America after the larger Chinook Salmon.
Chum can grow to up to 100 centimetres/3.28 feet and can weigh up to 4.9 kilograms/10.8 pounds.
Regarding their colour, Chum Salmon have a silver colour while at sea and turn olive green with distinctive maroon stripes for both males and females when in freshwater.
Chum Salmon have been observed to have a lifespan of up to 2 to 8 years.
The number of eggs that Chum Salmon spawns ranges from 2000 to 5000 eggs.
Once young Chum Salmon are born, they quickly migrate to saltwater habitats or the sea before returning to freshwater when they attain maturity to spawn at about the age of 3 to 6 years.

Which countries are the largest exporters of Chum Salmon?

With regards to the countries that are the largest exporters of Chum Salmon, Japan and the USA tend to get the largest catches of Chum Salmon. The fishing season for Chum Salmon often takes place in the summer season. Typically, catches of wild Chum Salmon come up to about 300 000 tonnes a year.

For example, in Alaska in the year 2020, the amount of Chum Salmon that was harvested numbered 8 431 029, weighed 60 273 015 pounds/27 339 379.72 kilograms and was valued at $30 085 628.

Names of Chum Salmon in other languages

Take a look at some names of Chum Salmon in other languages here:

Name	Language
Saumon chien	French
Кета (Keta)	Evenki and Russian languages
狗鲑 (Gǒu guī)	Chinese (Simplified)

Are Chum Salmon farmed?

Chum Salmon are not farmed and are wild caught. One reason for this is that Chum Salmon like most Salmon are sensitive to even the slightest of changes in their environment. This makes it difficult for Chum Salmon to be raised on fish farms.

What does Chum Salmon taste like?

Chum Salmon are often said to have a mild flavour.

What is the nutritional value of Chum Salmon?

We shall now discuss the nutritional value of Chum Salmon through the following table:

Nutrient Name	100 grams/3.5 ounces of Alaska native Chum Salmon
Calcium	7 milligrams
Protein	20.7 grams
Omega 3/n-3 Fatty Acids	630 milligrams
Vitamin A	105 IU/International Units

As can be observed from the table above, Chum Salmon has a significant amount of nutritional value. Interestingly, Chum Salmon seems to have a similar amount of nutrients as that of Pink Salmon. It is important to note that the nutritional value of individual Chum Salmon may vary. Whatever the case may be, it does not diminish the fact that Chum Salmon has major nutritional value.

Chinook Salmon

We now move on to the final Pacific Salmon that can be found in North America we are discussing, the Chinook Salmon.

Also known as the King Salmon, Chinook Salmon is said to be the largest of the Pacific Salmon that are found in North America, measuring up to 150 centimetres/4.92 feet in length and weighing in at about 60 kilograms/132.27 pounds.
Chinook Salmon are anadromous and are mostly found in parts of North America such as California in the USA but they have also been spotted in some rivers of Japan too.
Regarding their colour, Chinook Salmon’s bodies are said to have a mixture of turquoise and silver colour while at sea and a dark brown or red or purple colour while in freshwater when spawning (The change in colour for mature males is more prominent than females.) Chinook Salmon also are known to have a black pigmentation along their mouths which gave rise to their nickname ‘blackmouth’.
In terms of their lifespan, Chinook Salmon can live for up to 7 years and can spawn up to 14000 eggs after which they die.
Young Chinook Salmon head to sea soon after they are born and tend to return to freshwater to spawn at the ages of 3 and 4.

Which countries are the largest exporters of Chinook Salmon?

The largest exporters of Chinook Salmon include the USA and Russia.

For example, in the state of Alaska in the USA, the amount of Chinook Salmon that was harvested in the year 2020 numbered 263 319, weighed 2 910 958 pounds/13 20 388.33 kilograms and was valued at approximately $14 346 767.

Names for Chinook Salmon in other languages

Find out about some alternative names for Chinook Salmon in other languages here:

Name	Language
Saumon royal	French
奇努克鲑鱼 (Qí nǔ kè guīyú)	Chinese (Simplified)
Salmón real	Spanish
Salmon Chinook	Malay

Are Chinook Salmon farmed?

Chinook Salmon are both farmed and wild caught.
Countries that farm Chinook Salmon are New Zealand and Canada to name a few.
Chinook Salmon reared in a few ways. One method involves farms that use land and sea based farming techniques. Typically Chinook Salmon eggs and young are raised in land based hatcheries for a year before they are transported to sea pens where they stay for about a year or longer before they are harvested.

Chinook are also reared using land based Recirculating Aquaculture Systems that use filtration technology in the process of rearing these fish which has a similar duration as mixed environment farming techniques but is based in a single facility.
An average of 10 000 tonnes of Chinook Salmon are produced by farms every year.
Wild caught Chinook Salmon are typically caught over the summer season. On average about 7000 tonnes of wild Chinook Salmon are caught every year.

What do Chinook Salmon taste like?

Chinook Salmon are said to have a very rich flavour profile due to their fat content.

What is the nutritional value of Chinook Salmon?

We shall now look at the nutritional value of Chinook Salmon as shown in the following table:

Nutrient Name	100 grams/3.5 ounces of Alaskan native Chinook Salmon
Calcium	42 milligrams
Protein	20.2 grams
Omega 3/n-3 Fatty Acids	1270 milligrams
Vitamin A	453 IU/International Units

As can be seen from the table above, Chinook Salmon (in this case Alaska native Chinook Salmon) has a great amount of nutritional value. Do be aware that the nutritional value of Chinook Salmon may differ depending on the individual fish.

Furthermore, if you are comparing wild caught and farmed Chinook Salmon, differences in nutrient level between the two could be impacted by the amount of nutrients found in the feed of farmed Chinook Salmon. Nevertheless, that does not take away the fact that Chinook Salmon has significant nutritional value.

Wild vs Farmed Coho Salmon

Coho Salmon is a popular variety of Salmon that is consumed by many people. It is both wild caught and farmed. We shall be exploring aspects of wild and farmed Coho Salmon as well as see how they differ from one another.

About Wild Coho Salmon

Coho Salmon are commonly known by the alternative names of Silver Salmon or Medium Red Salmon due to the colour of their scales which can range from being silver while at sea and being maroon when in freshwater for spawning.
The ability of this fish to live in both saltwater freshwater environments as part of their life cycle shows that Coho Salmon are anadromous.
Coho Salmon are commonly found in parts of North America such as Alaska and California but have occasionally been spotted near Hokkaido, Japan too. A fundamental reason for their wide habitat range is the fact that as a Pacific Salmon, Coho Salmon call the Pacific Ocean home. As such Coho Salmon can be found near North America and Japan due to the fact that these countries are situated in the Pacific Ocean as well as the migratory nature of Coho Salmon.
Coho Salmon can grow to up to 88 centimetres/2.88 feet in length and can weigh up to 14 kilograms/30.86 pounds.
Their lifespan is up to 4 years when they spawn after which they die. Coho Salmon typically spawn about 2500 to 7000 eggs. Typically, young Coho Salmon spend a year in freshwater before heading out to sea where they tend to live for about 1 and a half years before returning to freshwater to spawn again.
Wild Coho Salmon are typically caught in the summer season around July. On average about 21 000 tonnes of Coho Salmon are caught in the wild and the USA and Russia tend to get the largest catches of wild Coho Salmon.

Farmed Coho Salmon

With regards to farmed Coho Salmon, they can be raised in a few ways:

One way involves the selection of sea farm based Coho Salmon stocks that are transferred to land based tanks where their eggs are taken to be fertilised.
The eggs are then placed in hatchery trays where they grow into juvenile salmon. The juvenile salmon are then kept in tanks for a year until they are shifted to seabased enclosures when their parr markings disappear.
The young Coho Salmon are then kept in seabased enclosures until they attain maturity (which is approximately another year, making the total production cycle to be 2 years) where they are then harvested.
Additionally due to Coho Salmon maturing after one year at sea, typically one stock of Coho Salmon that spawns in even years and one stock of Coho Salmon that spawns in odd years are used to maintain a steady number of fish stocks.

Another method of Coho Salmon rearing that exists is land based farming using a Recirculating Aquaculture System wherein Coho Salmon at different life stages are raised in separate tanks that are purified with filtration technology at a single land based facility within an approximately similar duration as that mixed sea and land based Salmon farming. On average about 100 000 tonnes of Coho Salmon are produced by farms every year.

What does Coho Salmon taste like?

Coho Salmon is said to have a mild flavour due to its fat content.

What is the nutritional value of Coho Salmon?

We shall now discuss the nutritional value of Coho Salmon via the following table:

Nutrient Name	100 grams/3.5 ounces of Farmed Coho Salmon	100 grams/3.5 ounces of Wild Coho Salmon
Calcium	12 milligrams	36 milligrams
Protein	21.3 grams	21.6 grams
Omega 3/n-3 Fatty Acids	1206 milligrams	1317 milligrams
Vitamin A	188 IU/International Units	135 IU/International Units

As observed from the table above, wild Coho Salmon seems to have more Calcium, Protein and Omega 3 fatty acids than farmed Coho Salmon does. However, it is fascinating to note that farmed Coho salmon appears to have more Vitamin A in comparison to wild Coho Salmon. These nutritional differences do not diminish the fact that Coho Salmon has major nutritional value. Do however be aware that the nutritional value of individual specimens of Coho Salmon may vary be they wild or farmed. One reason for this could be the level of nutrients found in the feed that is fed to farmed Coho Salmon.

Which countries are major consumers of Coho Salmon?

You may now be wondering about which countries are major consumers of Coho Salmon. We shall approach this question from two perspectives, farmed Coho Salmon and wild caught Coho Salmon.

First off, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Japan is the principal consumer market for farmed Coho Salmon, followed by the United States of America. Furthermore, Coho Salmon takes up 50 percent of the total amount of frozen salmon imported to Japan.

As for wild caught Coho Salmon, It is significantly consumed in the USA.

For example, According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, in 2020, 2 423 974 Coho Salmon was harvested in the state. The catch weighed 16 160 886 pounds/73 304 54.58kilograms and was approximately valued at $19 899 439 USD.

Which countries are major exporters of Coho Salmon?

Regarding the question of which countries are major exporters of Coho Salmon, they include countries such as Chile (farmed), Japan (farmed) and Canada (farmed and wild).

Names of Coho Salmon in some other languages

Besides the name Coho Salmon in English, this particular Salmon has names in various other languages as seen in the table below:

Name	Language
Saumon argenté	French
Salmón plateado	Spanish
金枪鱼鲑鱼 (Jīnqiāngyú guīyú)	Simplified Chinese
Salmon Coho	Malay

To recap

Here’s a table to recap the unique differences between the various Salmon that we have discussed.

Salmon Name	Habitat location	Measurements	Lifespan	Number of eggs spawned	Unique trait
Atlantic Salmon	The Atlantic Ocean near parts of North America and Europe.	Length: Up to 150 Centimetres/4.92 Feet. Weight: Up to 39 Kilograms/85.98 Pounds.	Up to 6 years in the wild and 3 years when farmed.	Up to 7500.	Atlantic Salmon do not die after spawning.
Sockeye Salmon	Anadromous Sockeye Salmon can be found near Hokkaido, Japan and parts of North America such as California in the US and British Columbia in Canada. Kokanee Salmon are found in parts of North America such as Alaska as well as certain lakes in Japan.	Sockeye Salmon Length: About 84 centimetres/2.75 feet Sockeye Salmon Weight: About 6.8 kilograms/15 pounds Kokanee Salmon Length: About 36.58 cm/1.2 feet in length Kokanee Salmon weight: About 2.26 kilograms/5 pounds.	Anadromous Sockeye Salmon: up to 8 years in the wild. Kokanee Salmon have been reputed to live up to 7 years in the wild. Farmed Sockeye Salmon live up to	Up to 4500. (Kokanee Salmon have been observed to spawn up to 1800).	Sockeye Salmon have a unique red colour when they have attained maturity to spawn. Kokanee Salmon, a variety of Sockeye Salmon, are uniquely not anadromous and live exclusively in freshwater.
Pink Salmon	Found in parts of North America such as California, the Korean Peninsula and Hokkaido.	Length:75 centimetres/2.46 feet. Weight: up to 5 kilograms/11 pounds.	Up to 2 years	1200 to 1900.	Pink Salmon are called Pink Salmon due to the colour of their flesh.
Chum Salmon	Parts of North America as well as the Korean Peninsula and Japan.	Length: Up to 100 centimetres/3.28 feet. Weight:Up to 4.9 kilograms/10.8 pounds	Up to 8 years	Up to 5000.	Chum Salmon are the second largest Pacific Salmon found in North America. Both male and female Chum Salmon have distinctive purple stripes. Male Chum Salmon also have prominent canine fangs that have culminated in the name Dog Salmon for this species of fish.
Chinook Salmon	Found in parts of North America such as California as well as Japan.	Length:Up to 150 centimetres/4.92 feet Weight: About about 60 kilograms/132.27 pounds.	Up to 7 years in the wild and up to 2 and a half years on farms.	Up to 14000.	Chinook Salmon are the largest species of Pacific Salmon found in North America. Chinook Salmon have a unique black pigmentation on their mouths which have earned them the alternative name of ‘Blackmouth’.
Coho Salmon	Found in parts of North America such as California and Alaska and have also been seen in Japan (Hokkaido)	Length: Up to 88 centimetres/2.88 feet. Weight: up to 14 kilograms/30.86 pounds.	Up to 4 years in the wild and 2 years in a farm environment.	2500 to 7000.	Coho Salmon have a distinctive maroon colour on their bodies when they are spawning.

Places where you can buy different kinds of Salmon

You can purchase a variety of different salmon at various online stores such as Pickme , Red Mart , Lazada and Shopee to name a few.

A fascinating journey up the stream of knowledge

Wow what a journey this has been! Hopefully you have found this journey up the stream of knowledge enlightening and have gained valuable knowledge about the different types of Salmon that we have discussed. Till our next food related journey, take care and enjoy your food both gastronomically and intellectually.