: a commercially important Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) that is greenish blue above and silvery below when sexually immature and turns red with a greenish head when ascending rivers to spawn which it does chiefly from the Columbia northward
called also red salmon, sockeye
compare kokaneeExamples of sockeye salmon in a Sentence
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In the picture, a large brown bear stands at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park and Preserve as a sockeye salmon, attempting to make its way over the rapids, lands in the predator’s powerful jaws.
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Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 27 Sep. 2025
This time of year, these apex predators are packing on the pounds by feasting on calorie-rich sockeye salmon at Brooks Falls.
—Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 25 Sep. 2025
The event also brings global attention to Katmai, which boasts one of the world's healthiest sockeye salmon runs.
—Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2025
The short season, when thousands of fishers and crew live on Bristol Bay, home of the world’s largest sockeye population, for about six short weeks, others processing on land, provides the global supply of sockeye salmon for the entire year to come.
—Andrew Watman, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
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Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 27 Sep. 2025
This time of year, these apex predators are packing on the pounds by feasting on calorie-rich sockeye salmon at Brooks Falls.
—Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 25 Sep. 2025
The event also brings global attention to Katmai, which boasts one of the world's healthiest sockeye salmon runs.
—Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2025
The short season, when thousands of fishers and crew live on Bristol Bay, home of the world’s largest sockeye population, for about six short weeks, others processing on land, provides the global supply of sockeye salmon for the entire year to come.
—Andrew Watman, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sockeye salmon
Cite this Entry
“Sockeye salmon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sockeye%20salmon. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
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