Columbia River King Salmon
Color can range from deep red to pale pink or white. Generally, brighter skin color equates to better meat color and quality. Kings are the highest in fat of all pacific salmon species, giving it very rich texture. The large size of the king salmon also gives the meat a large flake size. There is a genetic variety of king with white flesh ("white king"), that is much prized and entirely different than a mature king with white or light pink flesh.
Copper River Sockeye Salmon
Sockeye salmon has the reddest meat color of all the salmon species. With an oil content slightly lower than the king salmon, sockeye is nonetheless very oily and rich. Texture is firm. Meat color does not lighten as much as other species with the reaching of sexual maturity, nor does it with cooking. Flake size is medium.
Stikine River Ivory King Salmon
You may have heard of "Ivory" salmon. Ivory salmon are a white-fleshed King salmon native to certain rivers of southeast Alaska and Canada . Most salmon get their color from carotene in the food they eat while white or Ivory Kings are genetically predisposed with an extra enzyme to process that carotene rather than collect it in their flesh. Ivory salmon is acclaimed for its milder, silkier and more buttery flavor.