150 Fishes to Celebrate 150 Years

This list is still in progress and being added to weekly. Check back again soon!

150 Fishes to Celebrate 150 Years

In 2020, the American Fisheries Society will celebrate its 150th Anniversary. As part of the celebration, the Society will be calling attention to 150 fishes. We solicited nominations of fishes for the list by the Society’s membership.

The 150 Fishes list is a celebration of the biodiversity of freshwater and marine fishes of North America. These fishes will help tell the story of fish and fisheries of the continent. They may illustrate unique life histories, beauty, conservation issues, and challenges of managing and conserving these animals and their habitats.  These fishes represent our native biodiversity, but also illustrates how invasives and our own human nature have had impacts on our aquatic resources. Hence, this list will primarily focus on native species but may include non-natives when they tell a compelling fisheries story. From the stories of these fishes, the Society and the public can learn to better appreciate these amazing natural resources and be challenged to ensure that future generations will be able to experience these fishes in their native settings.

Nomination Process

Fish nominations are now closed.

Circulation Process

The 150 Fishes list will reside at the 150th Anniversary Website, information about individual fish from the list will be circulated through various social media platforms throughout the year.

This list is meant to be a fun for members and informative for the public. It is unlikely we will be able to include all nominations. We acknowledge that every fish has a story. There may be opportunities to discuss all the nominated fishes in the future.


FULL LIST OF NOMINATED FISH

Catchy TitleGetting Chummy with Salmon
Common Name of FishChum Salmon
Scientific Name of FishOncorhynchus keta
Image of FishImage of Fish
Image Caption and CreditChris Jenney: Kilchis River, Oregon
Description of Why This Fish Is Important/Interesting

Once the most abundant of Pacific salmon, chum salmon, like most salmon species have experienced a decline, with two populations of the continental U.S. listed as Endangered. Once thought of us a trash fish that was worthy of not much beyond dogfood, the chum salmon are today recognized as a beautiful and ecologically important fish. Second in size to only the Chinook salmon, chum salmon are an important component of the overall salmon fisheries of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska and maybe more than any other salmon, readily take a fly or artificial lure from recreational fisherman. They are also the most widely distributed of all Pacific salmon, ranging from the west coast of the United States all the way to Asia and display an extraordinary diversity in life-history. Where most chum spawn within the tidewater and the mouths of rivers that empty into the sea, some populations migrate thousands of miles to their spawning grounds.

Website or Journal Article for More Informationhttps://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/chum-salmon
Your NameChristopher Jenney