A fish with a harsh life and epic journey. Atlantic salmon live in freshwater as juveniles and at sea as adults, then returning to spawn by swimming upriver. They’ve long been a favoured seafood, but over-fishing and pollution have seriously impacted populations.
Common names: salmon, Atlantic salmon
Scientific name: Salmo salar
Family: Salmonidae (salmons)
Habitat: lakes
Diet: insects when young, small fish when adult
Predators: trout, birds of prey
Origin: native
The Atlantic salmon is a large fish, growing to 75cm long by around two years old. They are blue-silver in colour with black dots on the back. Some have a slight pink tone to the underside.
Juveniles feed on insects, invertebrates and sometimes plankton. Adult fish feed on small fish, predominantly capelin.
Credit: Linda Pitkin / naturepl.com
Atlantic salmon hatch in freshwater breeding grounds, developing for several years before migrating out to sea where they will spend most of their lives. When the time comes to breed, salmon return to the breeding grounds they were born in, travelling upstream. When they reach their destination, females lay eggs in grooves in the waterbed and males deposit sperm to fertilise them. The fish die soon after breeding.
Salmon can leap over huge obstacles blocking their way. There are records of an Atlantic salmon jumping over a three-metre obstacle.
Look out for Atlantic salmon in very clean rivers in Scotland, Wales and North and South West England.
Credit: Malcolm Hunt / Alamy Stock Photo
If you’re lucky, you might spot salmon leaping over obstacles like waterfalls to get to their breeding grounds.
Atlantic salmon is a priority conservation species and currently considered to be under threat. Wild populations are low due to factors like river pollution, habitat loss, river heating due to lack of tree cover, and over-fishing.
Find out how river woodland planting can increase river health, help prevent flooding and boost biodiversity.
