The Atlantic Salmon Industry

The Atlantic Salmon is so called because it is normally found in the rivers which run into the North Atlantic Ocean, both in Europe and on the east coasts of America and Canada. This fish hatches from an egg laid in gravel in a river, and spends the first one to two years of its life in freshwater.

When it is ready to migrate, it then moves down a river to the sea, becoming what is known as a "smolt". It may then swim many thousands of kilometers in the Atlantic Ocean in search of food. When the salmon have been at sea for at least a year it starts to mature and becomes ready to reproduce. At this stage it returns to the river where it lived when it was young and swims back upstream until it reaches a suitable place to lay eggs.

Atlantic Salmon have been continuing this life-cycle around the Atlantic Ocean for millions of years. However, man has recently transferred Atlantic Salmon to places very far from the Atlantic Ocean, like the west coats of Canada and America, Chile, New Zealand and, of course, Australia. In most of these "foreign" countries the Atlantic Salmon does not usually reproduce and multiply very well when released into the wild. However, it seems to survive and grow quite happily in fish farms.

Detailed information about the Atlantic salmon industry can be found at www.tsga.com.au/info