Sockeye salmon ocean and live their entire lives in freshwater. Sockeye salmon is the third-most common Pacific salmon species, after pink and chum salmon. "Oncorhynchus" comes from the Greek ὄγκος (onkos) meaning "barb", and ῥύγχος (rhynchos) meaning "snout". "Nerka" is the Russian name for the anadromous form. The name "sockeye" is an anglicization of "suk-kegh" (sθə́qəy̓), its name in Halkomelem, the language of the indigenous people along the lower reaches of the Fraser River (one of British Columbia's many native Coast Salish languages). "Suk-kegh" means "red fish". The sockeye salmon is sometimes called red or blueback salmon, due to its color. Sockeye
Fish disease and parasites mid-1980s, in particular, an overview report which states that "the fish that have the longest fresh water residence time as juveniles have the most noticeable infections. Hence in order of prevalence coho are most infected followed by sockeye, chinook, chum and pink." As well, the report says that, at the time the studies were conducted, stocks from the middle and upper reaches of large river systems in British Columbia such as Fraser, Skeena, Nass and from mainland coastal streams in the southern half of B.C. "are more likely to have a low prevalence of infection." The report also states "It