Atlantic Salmon

The Atlantic salmon is a large fish native to rivers draining into the North Atlantic Ocean, on both the European and North American coasts, well known for its anadromous life cycle in which it hatches in freshwater rivers, migrates to the ocean to grow to adulthood, and then returns, often to the very same river of its birth, to spawn. Adults are streamlined and silvery at sea, developing darker, mottled coloring and, in males, a hooked lower jaw as they enter freshwater to breed. The species undertakes long, physically demanding upstream migrations, leaping rapids and waterfalls to reach spawning grounds, and many individuals die after spawning, though some survive to breed again in subsequent years. Wild Atlantic salmon populations have declined significantly across much of their historic range due to dam construction, habitat degradation, overfishing and disease, even as the species has become one of the most widely farmed fish in the world for food.