Sockeye salmon, also known as blueback or red salmon, are the most valuable food salmon. Kokanee salmon are a landlocked variety of sockeye salmon. After salmon enter fresh water, their flesh loses flavor and color. Therefore, commercial fishing crews catch salmon as the fish leave the ocean to journey upstream. Most salmon are caught in nets.
Some salmon is sold fresh, frozen, or smoked, but most is canned.
Salmon fishing and processing rank as major industries in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, and in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Fish farms in these areas also produce much Pacific salmon. Sport fishing for salmon is popular in the United States and Canada. Coastal waters, lakes, and rivers in many parts of the world have been stocked with salmon. But transplanted salmon thrive only in a few places, such as the Great Lakes and New Zealand.