The Chetco River fishery, typical of Pacific coastal systems, is dominated by trout and salmon. There are important populations of anadromous winter steelhead, fall chinook salmon, and sea-run cutthroat trout. Coho and chum salmon are occasionally observed. Resident cutthroat and rainbow trout are abundant in upper stream reaches. Native populations of fall chinook and winter steelhead are supplemented with hatchery fish. The Chetco provides excellent spawning and rearing habitat and has some of the highest salmonid smolt returns of any coastal stream in Oregon. Pacific lamprey, three-spined stickleback, and assorted sculpin are also known to inhabit this system.