Coho Salmon

What it looks like

Coho range from 4.5 to 6.5 kg in weight. They can be identified by the black spots on their back and upper half of the tail. The head is conical and the snout becomes hooked near spawning time. Cohos are bluish-green on the back and silver on the sides with white bellies. They feed on herring, sand lice, squid, shrimp and other invertebrates.

What it was used for

Like all five Pacific salmon species — the others are Pink, Dog, Sockeye and Spring — the Coho are a very important food source for the Kwak'waka'wakw people. Coho are sometimes called silver salmon. George Hunt recorded a ceremony for roasting the first silver salmon of the season to be caught. They roasted the eyes, head, backbone and tail of the salmon. After a man had caught four silver salmon, he gave them to his wife who prayed to the silver salmon and then butchered them for roasting. After they were roasted the man invited his numaym (family group) to eat. The eyes of the roasted silver salmon must not be kept in the house overnight. If they were kept overnight when they are first caught, then the silver salmon would disappear from the sea.