Oregon's Fish Story

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"In the Northwest, a river without salmon is a body without a soul."— Timothy Egan, The New York Times

The shimmering rainbow path of a salmon leaping through air midstream is truly an awe-inspiring sight, and remarkably, one that can be seen on many of the rivers that wind through Oregon territory.

Oregon just wouldn’t be Oregon without its salmon. The native runs of this iconic fish, rich with tradition and history, hold a treasured place in Oregon’s culture. Salmon are at the heart of the Northwest’s untamed heritage, as much a part of this state as its dense forests and volcanic outcroppings.

Consider this: The silver threads of salmon migrations have been woven into the region’s natural tapestry for as long as 100 million years. Native Americans accorded the salmon such high esteem as a staple of survival that they observed complex rituals in their honor. Explorers Lewis and Clark marveled at the unprecedented abundance of salmon runs in the newly charted Columbia River. Today, salmon fishing is an integral part of life for coastal communities and their visitors. And salmon, along with huckleberries and hazelnuts, represent the epitome of uniquely Northwest food.

Salmon and people have been inextricably linked for hundreds of years. According to Native American lore, salmon lived in the sea in five great houses (one for each species), and each year the salmon king sent his subjects up the rivers to feed humans. To impress the salmon king and ensure that he continued to send his generous gift, the first salmon of the season was given a royal welcome, complete with an elaborate ritual.

More modern Oregon inhabitants have depended on salmon as well, if not directly for food, then for their livelihoods through sport and commercial fisheries. And salmon fishing has a lure that goes far beyond livelihood. Recreational fishermen come from all over the world for the chance to stand in ice water working the riffles of a steelhead stream. Charter boats take fishermen out by the droves for their chance at landing a chinook — or two — in the open sea.

Oregon’s rivers are home to four of the five species of Pacific salmon: chinook, coho, chum and sockeye. (Pink salmon are not native, but occasionally visit Oregon waters.) Like all anadromous species, salmon are spawned in rivers and, after a brief rearing period, migrate to the ocean until it’s time to head home to complete the cycle.
Chinook and coho salmon, mouth-wateringly familiar to fish fanciers, are Oregon’s most abundant species, with one or both types found in nearly all of the larger rivers.
Incredibly, chinook salmon once made the thousand-mile migration to the southeastern desert rivers of Malheur and Owyhee. Coho salmon tend to migrate to smaller tributaries for spawning. Nearly all juvenile coho remain in freshwater for about a year after emerging from their gravel nest, migrating to sea in the spring of their second year.
Chum salmon usually migrate a short distance upstream to spawn, with juvenile chum, unlike coho, beating a hasty retreat to the sea. Tillamook and Netarts bays and the Nestucca River now support Oregon’s largest runs of chum.

Sockeye salmon are also anadromous, but with an intriguing twist. Some sockeyes, called kokanee, never do head out to sea, instead spending their entire lives in freshwater. Both kokanee and their sockeye cousins begin life in lakes; native runs of kokanee still inhabit Eastern Oregon’s Wallowa and Suttle lakes.

Oregon’s salmon runs are receiving more attention now than ever before, as the fish are widely considered an indicator of watershed health. As a result, visitors today can do more than read about them — they can watch salmon, up close and personal in their native habitats, at any one of several viewing areas throughout the state.

A special room at Bonneville Dam on the lower Columbia River shows salmon ascending the dam’s fish ladder. Adult salmon migrate past the dam during the spring, summer and fall. (Phone the visitor center at 541-374-8820 for viewing times. From the Portland metro area, take Interstate 84 east toward The Dalles, and follow the signs to Bonneville Dam.)

Near Mt. Hood, a streamside viewing chamber operated by Cascade Stream Watch offers visitors an opportunity to go eye to eye with juvenile salmon at Wildwood Recreation Site, 503-622-3696. Wildwood is 39 miles east of Portland on Highway 26 and one mile west of Welches.

In the southern part of the state, a two-mile walk downstream from Grave Creek trailhead on the Rogue River will take you to Rainie Falls, where chinook salmon jump the cascading water in May and June. Take Interstate 5 to the Merlin exit, north of Grants Pass. Follow Merlin-Galice Road west for 23 miles to the Grave Creek Bridge; the trailhead is on the south end of the bridge. For information, call the Bureau of Land Management’s Medford office at 541-618-2200.

Many salmon hatcheries, where fish are reared in a controlled environment, offer tours and viewing opportunities. Contact the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife at 503-872-5268 for hatchery locations.