Keta (Chum) Salmon Roe

Large beads, pale red with strong orange overtones, and a characteristic pop: that is the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute’s description of keta roe.

Keta roe comes from chum salmon, Oncorhynchus keta, and is usually sold as separated, cured beads. Those orange-red eggs are a familiar choice for ikura. But neither “ikura” nor “red caviar” tells you which salmon produced them.

Meet the fish

Chum, keta and dog salmon are the same fish, not different roe grades. The “dog” name comes from the conspicuous canine-like teeth males develop for spawning. It says nothing about the eggs.

The species lives around the North Pacific rim, including Japan, the Russian Far East, Alaska and western North America. It grows at sea and returns to fresh water to reproduce: an anadromous life cycle. For understanding a roe’s origin, where the fish was caught matters more than the nationality of the business packing it.

Within salmon and trout roe, keta offers a useful introduction to salmon roe with large beads. For terminology and serving basics, turn to the complete ikura guide: The Complete Guide).

Big beads and a distinctive pop

Size is keta’s calling card. The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, or ASMI, lists its roe at 5 mm and upwards in its commercial guide. This is a product specification, rather than a minimum diameter for every egg the species produces; the cited sources give no universal upper diameter.

ASMI’s keta fact sheet describes a thicker outer membrane than in other salmon species and a rich, deep flavour. These trade descriptions are not based on a tasting of every keta product.

Keta is not alone in the largest size category. ASMI also lists king salmon roe at 5 mm and upwards, while pink and sockeye roe have smaller beads in its commercial specifications. Large beads distinguish keta, but size is not a quality grade. Explore the differences in the salmon roe comparison.

Where it comes from

Alaska, the Russian Far East and Japan are important sources of chum salmon fisheries and roe. Catch statistics measure fish, not the quantity of finished ikura, so they cannot establish each country’s share of the roe market.

In the United States, NOAA reports about 47,000 tonnes of commercial chum landings in 2024. In Japan, the Fisheries Research and Education Agency documents a national programme of artificial hatching, juvenile releases and monitoring of returning adults. These hatchery-supported fisheries are distinct from farming fish throughout their lives.

NOAA’s 2025 draft assessment, drawing on North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission data, records substantial chum hatchery releases in Russia, Japan and the United States. Releases help explain the supply system’s scale, although they do not establish that every fish caught was hatchery-born.

The harvest calendar follows local runs. ASMI describes Alaska keta roe harvesting as late summer, while its species sheet distinguishes summer and autumn runs. Frozen salted ikura is an established product form, so roe available outside the fishing season need not come from a recent harvest.

Stocks and management are local

How are chum salmon doing? It depends on the population. Checked in November 2026, NOAA’s account describes Alaska stocks as declining, stable or increasing, depending on the population, with none listed under the US Endangered Species Act. The picture remains specific to individual runs.

Alaska fisheries use escapement objectives: targets for the number of fish allowed through to spawn. Fishing openings are adjusted to the run. In Russia, regional anadromous-fish commissions set fishing volumes, dates and locations using scientific advice. Japan combines hatchery programmes with monitoring intended to improve survival and stabilise returns.

Parts of Japan have documented declines. A joint 2025 announcement by JAMSTEC, the Fisheries Research and Education Agency and the University of Tokyo reported that adult chum observations at the Tone River weir fell to zero in 2024, following a marked decline since 2013. That finding describes the river, rather than the entire Japanese stock.

Reading the label

Look for “chum salmon roe”, “keta salmon roe” or Oncorhynchus keta. On a menu, “ikura” identifies a style of salmon roe, not a guaranteed species. Ask which salmon the restaurant uses.

The “dog” name comes from the conspicuous canine-like teeth males develop for spawning.

In the US, FDA’s nonbinding Compliance Policy Guide 540.150 says unqualified “caviar” should mean salted sturgeon roe. Other fish roe may be called, for example, “salmon caviar”, with the fish name and “caviar” in substantially the same size and prominence. The guidance also calls for an ingredient list and prominent declaration of artificial colour when used.

In the EU, Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 requires food information not to mislead and sets rules for the food’s legal, customary or descriptive name. Great Britain applies its assimilated version; Northern Ireland applies the EU regulation. Customs classifications are separate from these consumer-information rules and do not determine the complete wording of a retail label.

A clearly stated species is useful information, although not every cured roe product must carry its Latin name. If a pack says only “salmon roe”, ask for the species and harvesting origin. The processor’s address is no substitute.

Choosing it in a shop

Start with distinct, large orange-red beads, then check the description. That appearance fits the trade description of keta, but colour and diameter cannot identify the species on their own.

Check the product form, too. Salted ikura, seasoned roe and sujiko are different preparations; sujiko is roe cured inside its natural egg sac. Read the ingredients before choosing the flavour profile you want. A salt-cured product and a seasoned one are not interchangeable descriptions.

For the distinction between separating eggs and curing a whole skein, see how salmon roe is harvested and cured. Ready to prepare a rice bowl? Explore ikura don and homemade shoyu ikura.