Introducing

Coho Salmon

Oncorhynchus kisutch

The wild behind the wear
Here is what you need to know.

Coho salmon have a complex life cycle. Born in freshwater streams, they migrate to the Pacific Ocean to grow and spend most of their adult lives. As adults, they journey back to the streams where they were born to spend their last days reproducing (spawning), giving rise to the next generation of coho salmon.

Once abundant enough to sustain entire Indigenous communities, commercial fisheries, and recreational anglers across the Pacific coast, some populations have shrunk to a fraction of their historic numbers. Their story is one of resilience, and a need for restored habitat.

Range

Pacific coast streams from central California to Alaska, through the Aleutian Islands, and across to the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia south to Japan.

Habitat

coastal | river | stream

Conservation Status

Several distinct populations are protected under the Endangered Species Act. The Central California Coast population is listed as Endangered, while the Lower Columbia River, the Oregon Coast, and the Southern Oregon and Northern California Coast populations are listed as Threatened.

Meet the species
From the Field Guide.

Coho can spend up to the first two years of their lives in streams and small freshwater waterways. Once big enough, they migrate to the ocean before returning to reproduce in the river where they were born.

Adult coho are sleek and silvery, with blue-green to dark metallic backs, pale bellies, and small black spots scattered across the back and the upper portion of the tail fin. Adults average around 24 inches in length and weigh approximately 10 pounds, though some can reach up to 20 pounds.

The return journey to freshwater rivers brings a dramatic change in appearance. Their bodies darken and develop a deep reddish-maroon along the sides, while males develop the distinctive hooked jaw characteristic of spawning salmon.
The threats they're up against.

Major threats to coho salmon include the loss and degradation of freshwater habitat, poor water quality as a result of land management practices, and shifting ocean and climate conditions.

The construction of dams and the diversion of water for agriculture and hydropower have blocked or eliminated vast stretches of habitat that coho once freely accessed, with research suggesting that between 80 and 90 percent of historically available habitat in most western states has been lost.

In the southern portion of the species' range, the Central California Coast population experiences freshwater temperatures approaching the upper limits the species can tolerate, impacting its chance of long-term survival.

Let's have some fun
Because the more you know, the more you love.

As young (juvenile) salmon prepare to leave for the ocean, they imprint the precise scent of the stream they were born in, called their natal stream. As adults, they use these odor memories to navigate back to their natal stream years later, after thousands of miles at sea.

This is a remarkable feat of animal navigation that occurs in two stages. First, microscopic iron crystals in the salmon's brain allow it to sense Earth's magnetic field, orienting it toward the right coastline and river system. Then, as they enter freshwater, their memory and sense of smell take over, guiding them upstream to the same stream where their life began.
Finding love in the wild.

In the wild, courtship is serious business. Some sing for it, some dance for it, some build for it, every species does it a little differently. Meet our singles, each one hoping to make it official (or at least make it to mating season).
Red

Red

Pacific Northwest (PNW)

Magnetic Personality Fashionista Traveler

About Me

Adventurous spirit that never needed Google Maps a day in my life. Have a knack for always finding the right way. Looking for my passenger princess.

Details

Interests Competitive swimming, fashion, glitter
Favorite Food Spaghetti ai Frutti di Mare
Favorite Song "Move On Up" by Curtis Mayfield
Green Flags I remember the small things, love experimenting with new styles, and thrive wherever life takes me
Zodiac Sign Scorpio
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Every purchase makes an impact

10% of the proceeds from this piece go directly to Trout Unlimited's North Coast Coho Project, which collaborates with community partners from across sectors to restore coho salmon and steelhead habitat in hundreds of miles of coastal streams from San Francisco Bay to the Oregon border.
River Run Necklace
River Run Necklace
River Run Necklace
River Run Necklace
River Run Necklace

River Run Necklace

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Resources
Go deeper in the deets.

Did you fall a little in love? Same. There's so much to learn about these creatures, and we could go on about them forever. Good thing there's plenty more where this came from: the sources below will happily take it from here.