The Latin name for Atlantic salmon is Salmo salar.
Atlantic Salmon is also called the king of fish. It is an anadromous fish species, which means that it lives in both fresh and saltwater. They are born in freshwater and then swim away to saltwater areas. When they reach a certain degree of maturity, they swim back to the freshwater areas where they were born. They usually play and are raised in rivers that they migrate back to when it’s day for the spawning. While the Atlantic salmon live in freshwater, the body is brown to bronze with dark vertical bars and red and black spots. These colors camouflage and protect them from predators. When the Atlantic salmon have matured and are ready to leave their birthplace, they swim on towards the sea and the salt water. There their colors change and the vertical barriers disappear and the fish’s bodies become silvery with almost black backs and white bellies. By adulthood, they are ready to swim back to spawn. Their bodies are then light silvery before they reach the freshwater rivers. There they will once again darken to a bronze color before it is time for their spawning in the autumn. When the spawning is completed, their colors darken further. When they then return to the sea, they return to a more silvery body again. They usually return when they are four years old. They spend two years at their birthplace and then two years at sea in the salt water.
At that time, they are 71-76 cm long and weigh between 3.6-5.4 kg. How big they are when the adult fish return depends on how many years they have been in the saltwater oceans. The young salmon that return after one year are called grilse. They are smaller than the adults who return after two years.
The adult Atlantic salmon can migrate several times to spawn.
The Atlantic salmon is sensitive to stress and threats. Dams and other blockages that prevent salmon from migrating between the place of birth and the sea create stress for the species. Environmental damage, overfishing and poor water conditions threaten the species.
The health of the species is directly affected by the health of its ecosystems. SO you can determine the health of a river or river by looking after the salmon population, they are strong and healthy, the water and the environment are usually good. If the water is unclean or out of balance, the salmon stock will decrease.
Atlantic salmon in the United States were previously large and were found in almost all coastal rivers northeast of the Hudson River in New York. But dams, pollution and overfishing reduced their population size. In 1948, fishing was banned and commercial and recreational fishing for wild offshore Atlantic salmon is still banned in the United States. All Atlantic salmon that can be bought on the public market is farmed. The only remaining wild salmon populations in the United States today are in some rivers in Maine. Some populations in southern Canada and Europe are also declining significantly.
