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Salmon

The Chinook or King Salmon is the largest salmon in North America and can grow up to 58" long and 126 pounds.

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Salmoniformes
Family: Salmonidae
Genus: Oncorhynchus

It is the common name for several species of fish of the Salmonidae family. Several other fishes in the family are called trout. Salmon live in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as the Great Lakes and other land locked lakes. The Kamchatka Peninsula, in the Russian Far East, contains the world's greatest salmon sanctuary.

Salmon are anadromous: they are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean, then return to fresh water to reproduce. Folklore has it that the fish return to the exact spot where they were born to spawn and modern research shows that usually at least 90% of the fish spawning in a stream were born there. In Alaska, the crossing over to other streams allows salmon to populate new streams, such as those that emerge as a glacier retreats. How they navigate is still a mystery, though their keen sense of smell may be involved. In all species of Pacific salmon, the mature individuals die within a few weeks of spawning.
Coastal dwellers have long respected the salmon. Most peoples of the Northern Pacific shores had a ceremony to honor the first return of the year. For many centuries, people caught the salmon as they swam upriver. A famous spearfishing site on the Columbia River at Celilo Falls was inundated after great dams were built on the river. The Ainu, of northern Japan taught dogs how to catch salmon as they returned to their breeding grounds en masse. Now, salmon are caught in bays and near shore. Long drift net fisheries have been banned on the high seas except off the coast of Ireland.

	Atlantic Salmon Fillets Atlantic salmon is a popular taste treat. These thick fillets are perfect for grilling! Your Atlantic salmon fillets will be delivered fresh and should be refrigerated immediately upon arrival. Fresh salmon can be safely refrigerated for up to three days. • see more fish selections

Salmon population levels are of concern in the Atlantic and some parts of the Pacific but in northern BC and Alaska stocks are still abundant. The Skeena river alone has millions of wild salmon returning which support commercial fisheries, aboriginal food fisheries, sports fisheries and the area's diverse wildlife on the coast and around communities hundreds of miles inland in the watershed.

Both Atlantic and Pacific Salmon are important to recreational fishing around the world.
In the southern hemisphere there is the Australian Salmon, which is a salt water species not related in any way to the salmonide. It is found along the southern coastline of Australia and Tasmania. Commonly caught there with large beach nets, its use as a commercial fish has been declining over the last 20 years.

Salmon as Food

Salmon is a popular food, and reasonably healthy due to its high protein and Omega-3 fatty acids and its overall low fat levels. According to reports by Science, however, farmed salmon may contain high levels of dioxins. PCB (Polychlorinated biphenyl) levels may also be up to 8 times higher in farmed salmon compared to wild salmon, and Omega-3 content may also be lower than wild caught species. Wild salmon are a healthy food, but according to the British FSA (Food Standards Agency) the benefits of eating even farmed salmon still outweigh the risks. Also it is important to note, salmon is generally one of the least tainted by methylmercury of all fish.

A simple rule of thumb is that the vast majority of Atlantic salmon available on the world market is farmed (greater than 99%), whereas the majority of Pacific salmon is wild-caught (greater than 80%).
Salmon is generally a red-flesh fish, although there are some examples of white fleshed wild salmon. The natural color of salmon results from carotenoids — astaxanthin and to a lesser degree, canthaxanthin — in the fish flesh. Wild salmon get these carotenoids from eating krill and other tiny shellfish. Farm salmon get them in their feed, along with other essential nutrients. Astaxanthin is a potent antioxidant that also stimulates fish nervous systems and improves fertility and growth.

Canned salmon in the U.S. is always wild Pacific catch. Smoked salmon is another popular preparation method, and can either be hot or cold smoked. Lox can refer either to cold smoked salmon, or to salmon cured in a brine solution (also called gravlax).

Raw salmon meat may contain anisakidae, marine parasites that cause Anisakiasis. Before the availability of refrigeration, Japanese did not consume raw salmon. Salmon and salmon roes were not used to make sashimi (raw fish) and sushi until recently.

Species:

Atlantic Ocean species:

• Atlantic salmon or Salmon (Salmo salar), is the species after which all the others are named.
• Land-locked salmon (Salmo salar sebago) live in a number of lakes in eastern North America. This subspecies is non-migratory, even when access to the sea is not barred.
• Another Atlantic species, Salmo trutta, is usually classified as a trout, despite being a closer relative of Atlantic Salmon than any of the Pacific species of salmon. See Brown Trout.

Pacific Ocean species:

sockeye salmon

• Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) is known locally as "Red Salmon" or "Blueback Salmon." This species is found south as far as the Klamath River in California in the eastern Pacific and northern Hokkaido Island in Japan in the western Pacific and as far north as Bathurst Inlet in the Canadian Arctic in the east and the Anadyr River in Siberia in the west.
• Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) is also known locally as King, Tyee, Spring Salmon, Quinnat, Tule, or Blackmouth salmon.
• Pink salmon or Humpback salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) is found from northern California and Korea, throughout the northern Pacific, and from the Mackenzie River in Canada to the Lena River in Siberia.
• Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) is known locally as Dog or Calico salmon. This species has a wide geographic range: south to the Sacramento River in California in the eastern Pacific and the island of Kyushu in the Sea of Japan in the western Pacific; north to the Mackenzie River in Canada in the east and to the Lena River in Siberia in the west.
• Coho salmon or Silver salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) is found throughout the coastal waters of Alaska and British Columbia and up most clear-running streams and rivers.
• Cherry salmon (Oncorhynchus masu or O. masou) is found only in the western Pacific Ocean in Japan, Korea and Russia.

See also:
• Alaska Fishing
• Alaska Fishing Jobs
• Alaska Lodging
• Alaskan Wilderness Adventures
• Seattle Fishing

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Salmon".