Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) is also commonly known as king salmon - and for good reason. It is the largest species of Pacific salmon, ranging from 10 to 50 pounds, but specimens have weighed in at well over 100 pounds, and they tend to be the richest as well, packed full of healthy fats.

Where and When Is Chinook Salmon Local?

Chinook salmon's natural range goes from Central California up the West Coast of the U.S.

and Canada along Alaska and across the North Pacific to the Kamchatka Peninsula of Siberia with limited population down to northern Japan. Most wild-caught king or chinook salmon in the U.S. comes from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

Like all salmon, chinook hatch in small fresh water streams and tributaries where they live for a year to a year and a half before they swim their way to the ocean. Their oceanic existence can be anywhere from one to eight years, but most stay out at sea for three or four years feasting on plankton, seaweed, star fish, smaller fish, and jellies.

When they're ready to spawn, chinook return to where they hatched - swimming upstream to spawn. They don't eat once they start upriver, so they fatten up before the journey. Fishermen tend to want to catch them when they are on their way to spawn but before they've started upstream, since it's a death swim - once salmon return to where they hatched, they spawn, and die.

Chinook salmon season varies by state and even by bay or river.

Population levels are dangerously low in some areas and commercial and even sport fishing for salmon doesn't necessarily open every year. In all cases, fish and game officials monitor population levels to determine opening fishing dates which, in turn, determine when salmon arrives at markets. In general, king salmon season opens in May or early June and runs into July, again, depending on how the population looks that year.

Extra Locales

In an effort to control invasive alewife fish in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, chinook salmon were introduced in the late 1960s. They have since thrived and provided great sport to fishermen (as you can see here).

Chinook salmon was introduced in New Zealand several times since the 1800s and sizeable runs have been established in many rivers.

How to Buy Chinook Salmon

Look: Best case scenario, you can buy a whole fish. That way you can see its eyes - they should be clear and rounded and fresh looking. Its skin should be clean and shiny without any slime on it or scales falling off. Gills should be bright pink or red. In all cases the flesh should be solid and not feathering apart.

Smell: Fish should smell like the ocean, not like fish. Fishy smelling fish should be passed on by. Quickly and without a second thought!

Touch: When you press the flesh of the salmon it should bounce right back.

How to Cook Chinook Salmon

I always find that when I've bothered to buy excellent, fresh chinook salmon, it benefits from being cooked simply so its natural rich flavor can shine through. By far my favorite preparation is Grilled Salmon, but I'm an equal sucker for Gravlax, or cold cured salmon in the Scandinavian tradition. For more ideas see How to Cook Salmon.

Wild-Caught Versus Farmed

There are many, many reasons to choose wild-caught salmon over farmed. In short, wild-caught salmon is simply, at this point, more sustainable. Wild caught salmon eat a wide range of foods in the wild, whereas farmed salmon are fed feed and require up to 20 pounds of fish to create one pound of salmon. Because of close quarters, they are also often given antibiotics. The lack of variety in their diet means farmed salmon are sometimes fed food to give their flesh the familiar pink-to-red color. Finally, salmon species are sometimes farmed in oceans where they are not from - particularly Atlantic salmon species grown in Pacific waters - and escaped fish endanger wild species with cross-breeding and unfamiliar diseases.

So you want to buy wild-caught salmon, but where? Your fishmonger or fish counter should label exactly where fish comes from and how it's caught, if they don't, ask, they should know the answer. If you can't find wild-caught salmon at markets near you, you can order it from these sources.