Living in the Baltic Sea

Average size
Female 120 cm / 20 kg, Male 150 cm / 40 kg.
The Baltic Salmon tend to be larger than the Atlantic salmon.
Age
Generally about 6 years old, but record ages up to 20 years have been noted.
Habitat
Salmon are anadromous; they are born in the fresh waters in rivers and migrate to to the ocean to finally return to their original river to reproduce. Mostly they spend their life at depths of 5-15 meters, even though they can dive 20-500 meters to go after prey.
Food
Juveniles feed on plankton, insect larvae and invertebrates, later on small fish.

Spawning
Age: 3-6 years old
Season: May – October
Number of eggs: 15 000

Spawning takes place in their native rivers. It is a heavy trip jumping upstream to reach the place where they were born. The male take on a slight green or red color and their lower jaw grows larger so that they are unable to close their mouth. During this time they prefer shallow waters with some movement and rocky bottoms. The female digs a hole on the bottom where she places her eggs that are fertilized by the male. Mating can take several weeks, a female produces about 2 000 eggs per 1 kg body weight. Very few survive the first spawning due to the extremely energy demanding trip jumping up the river to spawn. After the eggs hatch the juveniles stay for 2-5 years in the river before they travel out to sea. At sea they grow rapidly and return to spawn sometime within 4 years.

Human impact and Status
Salmon is one of the most popular food fish. Overfishing, habitat loss, pollution and aqua culture Salmon escapes are the greatest threats to the wild Salmon populations. The cultured Salmon that escape and breed with wild Salmon tend to lessen the genetic diversity of the species leading to lower survival rates. The more the man made production increase, the faster the oceans are fished out. To produce 1 kg Salmon in captivity, 2,5 kg fish is needed for food according to scientists. Bred fish can only replace natural fish on a sustainable way if they are fed with non-fish-eating species. CLOSE