Alaskan Kokanee

Kokanee are generally known as the much smaller form of the sockeye salmon O. nerka that completes its life cycle entirely in freshwater. Kokanee are differentiated from “residual sockeye salmon,” which are the non-anadromous progeny of anadromous fish. While kokanee are primarily found in landlocked lakes they also occur in anadromous systems. Kokanee typically exist independently from the anadromous form by segregating spatially and temporarily. The status of specific stocks of native kokanee populations in Alaska is unknown and few have ever been evaluated. The abundance of kokanee appears to vary significantly from very abundant in some lakes to very small populations in others. No specific explanation for the widely varying abundance is known.