Oregon designated the chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) as the official state fish in 1961. Chinook salmon (also known as spring, king and tyee salmon) is the largest of the Pacific salmons and the most highly prized for the fresh fish trade.

Also the state fish of Alaska, the chinook salmon is found from southern California to the Canadian Arctic. Record catches of 53 inches and 126 pounds have been reported.

King salmon hatch in fresh water, spend part of their life in the ocean, then return to the fresh water stream where they were born to spawn (they die after spawning). Some salmon travel more than 2,000 river miles over a 60-day period to reach their home streams. Salmon do not feed during this freshwater migration, and their condition gradually deteriorates as stored body materials are used for energy and the development of reproductive products.

Each female salmon deposits from 3,000 to 14,000 eggs in several gravel nests. The newly hatched fish live in the gravel for several weeks (until the nourishment in the attached yolk sac is absorbed). Young salmon then consume plankton and later insects until they migrate to the ocean in their second year of life. While at sea salmon feed on a variety of ocean organisms including herring, pilchard, sandlance, squid, and crustaceans. When sexually mature (between 3 - 7 years of age) salmon return to their home fresh water streams to spawn.

Source:

State Symbols: Oregon Blue Book

Links:

State Fish & Water Life Symbols - 50 States