From the research I did kokanee are often what small sockeye are referred to as, or what the land locked version of the sockeye are referred to. You will almost never hear of a kokanee referred to as a sockeye in their land locked waters. In big game terms kinda like brown bear vs grizzly bear.
A small, medium or large non-landlocked sockeye is NOT a kokanee, ever. The phrase used, "a freshwater landlocked kokanee salmon" is like saying the fish is a salmon salmon. Redundant. That's all. No biggy. No further inference...
A kokanee, even from a naturally isolated population is still genetically a sockeye. The Grizzly is most typically considered as a genetic subspecies of the brown bear.
Surely some fisheads have intermixed the gametes of the two versions of the sockeye and achieved a sockeye. I can not imagine collecting sperm from a grizz or brown. I'll stay in the truck and watch.
Geno?
