Selective breeding of plants and animals has been carried on for hundreds of years. Few attempts, however, have been made to breed salmon that have characteristics which would better fit the fish for the needs of modern salmon management. Experiments started in 1949 at the University of Washington to develop a selected stock of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) have shown progress in producing fish better adapted to the environment available to them. Selected stocks grow faster, are more resistant to high temperatures and disease, mature earlier, and have a higher survival rate than the non‐selected stocks.