Sockeye Salmon

U.S. wild-caught sockeye salmon is a smart seafood choice because it is sustainably managed and responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations.

NOAA Fisheries works in cooperation with federal, state, tribal, and Canadian officials to manage these commercial, recreational, and tribal harvest of salmon and steelhead in ocean and inland waters of the West Coast and Alaska. To learn more about management of these fisheries, visit our West Coast and Alaska fisheries management pages.

However, some sockeye salmon are also protected under the Endangered Species Act. Learn more about protected sockeye salmon.

• Sockeye is one of the smaller species of Pacific salmon, measuring 1.5 to 2.5 feet in length and weighing 4 to 15 pounds.
• Kokanee (non-anadromous sockeye) rarely exceed 1.2 feet in length.
• Sea-going sockeye salmon have iridescent silver flanks, a white belly, and a metallic green-blue top, giving them their "blueback" name.
• Some fine black speckling may occur on the back, but the large spots typical of other Pacific salmon are absent. There are no spots on the fins, including the tail.
• As sockeye salmon return to their freshwater spawning grounds, their heads turn green and their bodies turn bright red, hence their other common name in Alaska is “red” salmon.
• Spawning males develop a humped back and hooked jaws filled with tiny, visible teeth.

• Most sockeye salmon are anadromous—they hatch in freshwater streams and rivers or lakes and generally rear in freshwater lakes for 1 to 3 years, after which they reach the smolt stage and migrate to the ocean to feed and grow.
• They typically mature and return to fresh water after 2 to 3 years at sea, but some return earlier or stay at sea longer, between 4 and 5 years.
• Sockeye salmon that return earlier are almost always males and are called "jacks."
• They typically spawn in the summer or fall.
• Females select spawning sites, dig nests (redds) with their tails, and deposit eggs (between 2,000 and 4,500) in the redds.
• Males swim over the redds and fertilize the eggs.
• Females cover their eggs with gravel using their tails.
• The eggs hatch during the winter, and the newly hatched salmon (alevins) remain in the gravel, living off the material stored in their yolk sacs until early spring.
• They then emerge as fry and spend 1 to 3 years in fresh water before reaching the smolt stage and migrating out to the ocean, usually in the spring.
• All sockeye salmon die within a few weeks after spawning.
• They sexually mature around the age of 5, which means their lifespan is about 5 years, although some live longer. Age 4 is more common in the Pacific Northwest.
• While in fresh water, juvenile sockeye salmon feed mainly on zooplankton (tiny floating animals), amphipods (small, shrimp-like crustaceans), and insects.
• In the ocean, sockeye salmon continue to feed on zooplankton but also eat larval and small adult fishes and occasionally squid.
• Fish (including other salmon) and birds feed on juvenile salmon.
• Sharks, lampreys, and marine mammals prey on adult salmon in the ocean. Bears, eagles, and occasionally wolves feed on sockeye salmon in fresh water.
• After salmon spawn and die, salmon carcasses are a valuable source of energy and nutrients to the river ecosystem. Carcasses have been shown to improve newly hatched salmon growth and survival by contributing nitrogen and phosphorous compounds to streams.

• Northwest Alaska to the Deschutes River in Oregon.

• Alaska Department of Fish and Game, NOAA Fisheries, and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council manage sockeye salmon in Alaska.
• Managed under the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Salmon Fisheries in the EEZ off the Coast of Alaska.
  • All management of the salmon fisheries in federal waters is delegated to the State of Alaska and the Department of Fish and Game. This allows management to remain consistent throughout salmon’s range.
    • Managers regulate the fishery based on escapement goals to ensure harvests are sustainable. They want enough salmon to be able to escape the fishery and return to fresh water to spawn and replenish the population.
    • Salmon fishery management largely relies on in-season assessment of how many salmon return to fresh water to spawn.
    • Managers set harvest levels based on these returns. When abundance is high and the number of fish returning is much higher than that needed to meet escapement goals, harvest levels are set higher.
  • During the fishing season, scientists monitor catch and escapement, comparing current returns with those from previous years to keep an eye on abundance and actively manage the fishery.
• Off the West Coast and in Alaska, the Pacific Salmon Treaty, the Pacific Salmon Commission, and the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission help coordinate management, research, and enhancement of shared U.S. and international salmon stocks, including sockeye.//

• Commercial fishery:
  • In 2019, commercial landings of sockeye salmon totaled 290 million pounds and were valued at approximately $466.5 million, according to the NOAA Fisheries commercial fishing landings database.
  • Almost all the sockeye salmon harvested in the United States comes from Alaska fisheries. Sockeye salmon are also harvested off the West Coast, mainly Washington, with a small amount harvested in Oregon.
  • Sockeye salmon remain the preferred species for canning due to the rich orange-red color of their flesh.
  • More than half of the U.S. sockeye salmon catch is sold fresh or frozen rather than canned.
• Gear types, habitat impacts, and bycatch:
  • Primarily harvested commercially in net fisheries, including gillnet purse seines and, more rarely, reef nets.
  • Gillnetters catch salmon by setting curtain-like nets perpendicular to the sockeyes’ trajectory as they migrate along the coast toward fresh water. The mesh openings on the nets are just large enough to allow males (which are usually larger) to get stuck, or gilled, in the mesh.
  • Purse seiners catch salmon by encircling them with a long net and drawing the bottom closed to capture the fish.
  • Sockeye salmon are also caught in commercial troll fisheries for Chinook and coho salmon.
  • Fishing gear used to catch sockeye salmon rarely contacts the ocean floor and has little impact on habitat.
  • Bycatch is low and usually consists of other salmon species.
• Recreational fishery:
  • Sockeye salmon are a favorite catch of recreational fishermen.
  • To ensure recreational fisheries are sustainable, West Coast anglers are only allowed to keep a certain amount of salmon per fishing trip.
  • In Alaska, regulations vary by area and individual fishery.
  • Recreational fisheries in high-use areas (Cook Inlet, Southeast Alaska, Copper River) are regulated through management plans that allocate fish between commercial and recreational fishermen.
• Subsistence fishery:
  • Salmon is an important source of spiritual and physical sustenance for Western Indian tribes and Alaska natives, and salmon are culturally important to many other residents of these areas.
  • Subsistence fishermen use a variety of fishing gear to harvest sockeye salmon.