Chinook salmon
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
Also known asKing salmon · Tyee · Quinnat
Water parameters
Minimum tank: 3000 L per individual at harvest size.
Feed and growth
- Feed protein
- 45% target
- Daily feed (warm)
- 1.10% of body weight
- Daily feed (cool)
- 0.70% of body weight
- Max density
- 50 g per litre
A 12000 g adult eats about 132.0 g of feed per day at optimum. 10 fish at adult size: ~1320 g daily.
Legality
Rules vary by jurisdiction and change over time. Verify with your local fisheries or wildlife authority before stocking.
| Jurisdiction | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| California | permit required | verified 2026-05-13 |
| Alaska | legal | Native species in Alaska verified 2026-05-13 |
| New South Wales | prohibited | verified 2026-05-13 |
Unlisted jurisdictions default to "check local regulations".
Origin and habitat
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha is the largest of the Pacific salmon. It is native to the North Pacific and the rivers of western North America from California to Alaska, and to Asian rivers from northern Japan to far-northeastern Siberia. Known as king salmon in Alaska, tyee in British Columbia, and quinnat in New Zealand, it is anadromous and semelparous: the young rear in fresh water for several months to over a year, migrate to sea for two to six years, then return to their home river to spawn once and die, unlike Atlantic salmon, which can survive spawning. Most adults run 5 to 25 kg, with exceptional fish much larger; the heaviest on record was a 126-pound (about 57 kg) commercial catch near Petersburg, Alaska, in 1949, and the sport record is a 97-pound fish from the Kenai River in 1985. The flesh holds the highest fat content of the Pacific salmon, deep red-orange, and is the premium product of both commercial and sport fisheries. Wild runs have fallen sharply across much of the range from dams, habitat loss, and shifting ocean conditions, and nine population groups are listed under the US Endangered Species Act, two as endangered and seven as threatened. Farming is centered in New Zealand, where the fish was introduced in the early 1900s, with smaller efforts in British Columbia.
Climate and outdoor ponds
- Climate
- cold-water (cool water required, dies in heat)
- USDA zones
- 3–7 (winter low around -40°C or warmer)
- Heating needed
- no
- Cooling needed
- yes, if summer water exceeds upper tolerance
Care notes
Not a practical home-aquaponics fish, included for completeness. Chinook need cold water around 8–14°C, very high dissolved oxygen above about 8 mg/L, and clean conditions, and they suffer in summer warmth. Their biology complicates freshwater culture: juveniles smoltify and feel the pull to migrate, so most operations rear smolts on land and grow the fish out in marine net pens, though New Zealand also raises market-size chinook in freshwater raceways fed by cold, oxygen-rich alpine water. New Zealand is the main farmed-chinook producer, on the order of ten thousand tonnes a year, a sliver of world salmon output. Feed conversion in culture runs about 1.3 to 1.7 on a high-fat salmon pellet, poorer than Atlantic salmon. For freshwater aquaponics, rainbow trout, arctic char, or land-based Atlantic salmon RAS are far more workable. Chinook fingerlings are seldom sold to non-commercial buyers because most wild stocks carry conservation protections, and culture permits demand genetic-management rules to protect wild populations.