Atlantic Salmon
To see this species, click here
What to
look for:
This fish lives for part of its life in the high quality freshwater streams and
rivers of
Scotland and then
spends most of its life at sea growing to adulthood in the
Atlantic
Ocean. It returns to the same freshwater tributary where it
hatched, then it mates and spawns, laying its eggs in the gravel bottom. Most
adults die after this epic journey, some females return to the sea and repeat
the cycle the following year.
When to see it:
In spring, salmon fry (50-75mm long) can be seen in river
shallows. Look out for their shadows on the stones of the riverbed. They grow
over two or three years to be parr, looking like trout (100–200mm
long) and can be seen in deeper pools. In spring and early summer in their
second to fourth year, these parr change colour and become silvery and turn
into saltwater tolerant smolts, as they journey down stream to
the sea.
After years at sea feeding on plankton, sand eel and herring
they return to freshwater rivers to breed. Adult salmon can be seen making
spectacular jumps up waterfalls from May until September. They can be nearly a
metre long and weigh up to 25kgs. Most salmon spawn in November-December.
Where to see it:
Look for younger salmon in spring and summer by approaching the edge of shallow
water quietly. Patient watching at any waterfall on a salmon river can be
rewarded with glimpses of jumping adults. Watch spawning fish at a distance
from the bank of the river and seek a viewpoint 2-3 metres above the river
overlooking a gravel bed in around 100-150mm of water. Use binoculars to look
for adults resting near these shallows.
Things to think about:
The journey of an atlantic salmon is an epic one, involving hundreds of miles.
Each female salmon can produce up to 750 eggs. Out of 5000 eggs laid about 4700
fry develop and at the end of their first year only 360 fry remain. During the
following three years 260 parr dwindle to 50 or so smolts, which reach the sea.
At the end of three more years at sea, 10 adult salmon might return to spawn
again in the river and only one female may survive to return to the
sea.
Return to Fish and Invertebrates