If you look closely, you will see three pink fish in the centre of the photo. These are small Kokanee salmon; they are a form of land-locked sockeye salmon that live all their lives in fresh water.

It’s thought that they became separated from their sockeye relatives and trapped in lakes and streams about 15,000 years ago. While they spend most of their time in lakes, they travel into creeks and rivers to spawn. Many of them die while following this biological imperative; you can see some dead ones in the photo above.

The average Kokanee only grows from about 1.5 to 3 kilos (six pounds). They are not the prettiest looking fish, but the males turn dark pink when they are spawning.

I have eaten Kokanee salmon and they have a very delicious, somewhat mild flavour; in my opinion they taste more like a richer trout.

Greetings from the Kokanee salmon of the Okanagan Valley. 🙂