05-01-2009, 08:48 PM
Sorry I didn't mean to confuse you there. With anadromous fish (salmon inparticular) each group of fish that is returning to a different tributary or even hatchery is considered a different subspecie (there might actually be a different term for it that I can't think of right now but I think its subspecie). So for example the fish returning to the Little Salmon River and the South Fork Salmon River would be considered separate and different subspecies (some might call them different "runs"). They are all Chinook salmon (that would be the species), but each subspecie is actually slightly different from each other from an evolutionary standpoint.
The fisheries management term would be "stock". Idaho F&G actually uses the same stock of Chinook for alot the salmon runs in Idaho, and mixes and matches to meet the quotas at the different hatcheries. If I am not mistaken, all the fish returning to Hells Canyon, all the Clearwater tribs and the Little Salmon (or Rapid River) are all the same stock. Some of the unique stocks that are the offspring of original historic wild fish include the fish that return to the SF Salmon (McCall Hatchery), Pahsimeroi River, and the Sawtooth hatchery, and are never mixed and matched. You can find some good info about all that on IF&G's Chinook Salmon Hatcheries web page.
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The fisheries management term would be "stock". Idaho F&G actually uses the same stock of Chinook for alot the salmon runs in Idaho, and mixes and matches to meet the quotas at the different hatcheries. If I am not mistaken, all the fish returning to Hells Canyon, all the Clearwater tribs and the Little Salmon (or Rapid River) are all the same stock. Some of the unique stocks that are the offspring of original historic wild fish include the fish that return to the SF Salmon (McCall Hatchery), Pahsimeroi River, and the Sawtooth hatchery, and are never mixed and matched. You can find some good info about all that on IF&G's Chinook Salmon Hatcheries web page.
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