Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into it.
The vast majority of Atlantic salmon available in market around the world are farmed (almost 99%), [117] whereas the majority of Pacific salmon are wild-caught (greater than 80%). Canned salmon in the U.S. is usually wild Pacific catch, though some farmed salmon is available in canned form.
The transfer of parasites from open-net cage salmon farming, especially sea lice, has reduced numbers of wild salmon. The European Commission (2002) concluded, "The reduction of wild salmonid abundance is also linked to other factors but there is more and more scientific evidence establishing a direct link between the number of lice-infested wild fish and the presence of cages in the same ...
Throughout the region, many wild salmon stocks (a group of interbreeding individuals that is roughly equivalent to a "population") have declined and some have disappeared. The status of salmon along the west coast of North America is not uniform. Some wild salmon and habitat restoration possibilities are better than others.
Salmonidae (/ s æ l ˈ m ɒ n ɪ d iː /, lit. ' salmon-like ') is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes (/ s æ l ˈ m ɒ n ɪ f ɔːr m iː z /, lit. "salmon-shaped"), consisting of 11 extant genera and over 200 species collectively known as "salmonids" or "salmonoids".
NASCO's Council has adopted a Ten-Year Plan to address the threat to Atlantic salmon and to restore what was once a healthy, thriving population. NASCO's has set a goal to focus on and promote efforts aimed at protecting, conserving, and restoring wild Atlantic salmon across the species' range.
Commercial fishermen targeting wild salmon frequently catch escaped farm salmon. At one stage, in the Faroe Islands, 20 to 40 percent of all fish caught were escaped farm salmon. [68] In 2017, about 263,000 farmed non-native Atlantic salmon escaped from a net in Washington waters in the 2017 Cypress Island Atlantic salmon pen break. [69]
The exotic pet trade has also been a large source of introduced species. The species favored as pets have more general habitat requirements and larger distributions. [44] Therefore, as these pets escape or are released, unintentionally or intentionally, they are more likely to survive and establish non-native populations in the wild.