A famous anadromous game fish of the North Atlantic, native to rivers from New England across to Russia.
Where it lives
Atlantic salmon spawn in cold, clean rivers and lakes from Maine and eastern Canada across to Iceland, Scandinavia, the British Isles, and northern Russia. After one to several years in fresh water, smolts migrate to the North Atlantic feeding grounds off Greenland and the Faroes.
How to recognise it
A streamlined silvery body in sea phase, with scattered X- and dot-shaped black spots above the lateral line and few or none below. The tail is square or slightly indented and the wrist of the tail is narrow — a useful tail-grip handle. Spawning fish darken; males develop a hooked kype.
Diet & behavior
At sea, salmon feed heavily on krill, sand eels, capelin, and squid. Adults returning to spawn navigate by magnetic and olfactory cues and stop feeding. Unlike Pacific salmon, Atlantic salmon may survive spawning and return to sea to spawn again.
Fisheries & Conservation
Wild stocks are depleted in many rivers, but aquaculture has made farmed Atlantic salmon one of the world’s most farmed fish; environmental impacts of net-pen farming remain controversial.