COHO SALMON were first described by Walbaum in 1792 as Salmo kisutch, the specific name being the vernacular for coho in Kamchatka, ussR (McPhail and Lindsey 1970). Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch), one of the seven recognized species of Pacific salmon belonging to the genus Oncorhynchus, are widely distributed in commercially harvestable quantities throughout their natural range, from the Soviet Far East around the Bering Sea, to Alaska, and south along the North American coast to California (Hart 1973). During the 1970s the world catch of all Pacific salmon averaged just over 400 million kg annually and of this total, approximately 9% consisted of coho, with the North American catch about double the Asian catch (Fredin 1980).