slink n EDD ~ sb2 4, DC esp Nfld (1955) for sense 2.
1 A salmon still in fresh water after spawning; a thin salmon in poor condition.
[1771] 1792 CARTWRIGHT i, 132 We had three slinks in the net. 1792 ibid Gloss i, xv ~ A salmon which has spawned, and has not yet recovered itself by returning into the sea; till which time, it never will. 1930 Am Speech vi, 57 ~ Thin salmon with pale flesh, not used as food. 1947 TANNER 738 The pink salmon is reserved for human consumption, the white salmon [slinks] is kept as winter food for the dogs. M 68-23 We usually fished near home around the mouth of the river. There were always plenty of mud trout, salmon parr and sometimes even a 'slink' (a thin dark salmon which was on his way to the sea). These slinks weren't much good to eat. C 75-61 The rock at the end of the pool was called 'Slink Rock' because this is where in the spring of the year a number of slinks used to be caught. 1977 Inuit Land Use 264 Salmon which migrate up-river remain for the winter in ponds or in steadies... When they return to salt water in spring ... they are called slinks. 'They are slimmer and paler than regular salmon and they have little blood.'
2 A thin cod-fish, esp one caught early in the spring before summer feeding in coastal waters (P 243--56).
1955 Nfld Fisheries Board No 23 Exceedingly thin fish ('slinks') shall not be classed as No 1 Labrador.
