By Dan Burden, content specialist, AgMRC, Iowa State University, djburden@iastate.edu.

Revised July 2009 by Diane Huntrods, AgMRC, Iowa State University.


Overview
Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) are distributed across the basin of the North Atlantic Ocean from the Arctic Circle to Portugal in the eastern Atlantic, from Iceland and southern Greenland, and from the Ungava region of northern Quebec south to the Connecticut River. Part of their life cycle occurs in saltwater and part in freshwater. Atlantic salmon were eliminated from most of their native range in the northeastern United States and Canada, but restocking efforts have re-established them in many watersheds.

Production
In the United States, Maine and Washington are the two largest producing states, with an estimated 40 million pounds of live-weight production. Atlantic salmon, specifically Chinook and Coho, account for over 95 percent of the farmed salmon produced. Other species found on the market include Chum, Pink and Sockeye.

Atlantic salmon are cultured extensively at state, federal and private facilities throughout the northeast for restoration efforts, recreational fishing opportunities and as a food fish. Under culture conditions, Atlantic salmon eggs should be incubated at 42 degrees F. Upon hatching, the temperature should be dropped to 38 degrees F until the sac fry begins to accept prepared food. At this point, the temperature should be raised to 50 degrees F, then slowly increased to a final maintenance temperature of 60 degrees F. The pH should be greater than 6, and dissolved oxygen levels should remain above 7 ppm.

In the American Northwest, there has long been controversy about whether salmon aquaculture has beneficial or detrimental implications for the wild fish resource. Whether there is common ground between sustaining wild salmon with hatchery-produced fish and the hatchery-based aquaculture of salmon was recently called into question by research reported in a fall 2006 edition of the Conservation Biology journal.

A group led by an Oregon State University geneticist cautioned that relying on hatcheries to sustain salmon runs is likely to fail in the long run without restoring river habitats. They found that fish raised from wild eggs in hatcheries will soon evolve traits ill-suited to the wild and that hatchery programs "essentially created a fish version of white lab mice." This finding suggests that they are very well adapted to handling, artificial diets and so on but that they do not survive well in the wild.

This has been a controversial issue. Hatchery fish make up about two-thirds of the wild-strain salmon and steelhead (trout) returning each year to the Columbia Basin, the largest producer of salmon on the West Coast. The returns represent just 5 percent of historical levels before dams, logging and other habitat degradation reduced populations and spawning-bed resources. Conservation groups, Indian tribes, fishermen, state and federal agencies, the timber industry, agricultural groups and property rights groups have been battling over the role of hatcheries and the role of artificial population enhancement for decades.

The bottom line: research confirms that steelhead raised for generations in hatcheries do poorly when they try to reproduce in the wild, but the first generation of fish raised from wild parents in hatcheries are as successful at reproducing in their native rivers as their wild cousins. This finding means that hatcheries can use wild-recovered stock for their breeding programs, supplementing their efforts to sustain or enhance the wild-fish resource, and that “aquaculture-strain” salmon are just that, a domestic animal well suited to confinement rearing. These results parallel other studies showing that even hatchery fish bred from wild eggs are inferior to wild-produced fish. This implies that there are three distinct courses for salmon resource protection: habitat restoration for wild fish, augmentation of the wild resource with “first-generation hatchery fish and use of “confinement-acclimated” strains for dedicated aquaculture production systems.

Consumption
According to the U.S. National Fisheries Institute, salmon ranked third on its 2008 “Top Ten” list of the most consumed fish and seafood in the United States. That year, the average consumption of salmon was 1.8 pounds per person.

Exports
In 2008 fresh and frozen exports of U.S. salmon fell to 311.4 million pounds and were valued at nearly $469 million (NMFS 2008). USDA's Economic Research Service says the value and volume of fresh salmon exports increased during the year, while the value and volume of frozen salmon exports decreased (2008).  

The value of uncanned salmon increased during 2008, while the volume decreased. With a 3.6 percent increase, the value of uncanned salmon reached $594 million; the volume declined to 332 million pounds. The largest importers of U.S. uncanned salmon were (in order): China and Japan.  During 2008, exports to China fell, while exports to Japan rose.  (FAS 2008)

Salmon was the major canned fish product exported in 2008. Canned salmon exports totaled 117.5 million pounds and were valued at $218 million, a 7 percent increase from 2007 (NMFS 2008). The largest importers of U.S. canned salmon were (in order): Canada and the United Kingdom; exports to both countries declined slightly in 2008 (FAS 2008).

During 2008, the United States re-exported nearly 8.8 million pounds of salmon of foreign origin valued at $20.3 million (NMFS 2008).    

Imports
According to National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) data, 2008 imports of fresh and frozen salmon totaled 504.5 million pounds valued at $1.6 billion, indicating a 3.1 percent decrease in volume and a 1.4 percent decrease in value from 2007. Only fresh Atlantic salmon increased in value and in volume during 2008 (ERS 2008).

Chile remained the largest supplier of salmon to the United States, shipping 224 million pounds of the fish to this country in 2008. Canada was the next largest supplier of salmon, shipping 189 million pounds during 2008.  (FAS 2008)

Trends
According to the Salmon Market Report published by Globefish (2009), prices for salmon may well increase in 2009. The farmed salmon industry in Chile, a leading producer of both Atlantic and Pacific salmon, was seriously affected by disease outbreaks in 2008. As a result, the reduced Chilean and total global supply of salmon may push prices moderately higher. However, the report also notes that Norway plans to grant 65 new salmon farming licenses in 2009, including five for organic salmon.    


Sources
Aquaculture Data, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA, 2008.

Census of Aquaculture (2005), USDA, 2006.

Imports and Exports of Fishery Products: Annual Summary, Fisheries Statistics Division, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), 2008.

Salmon Market Report, Globefish, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations, 2009.

Study: Modern Hatcheries Aid Wild Salmon, Conservation Biology, 2006 - A group led by an Oregon State University geneticist cautions that relying on hatcheries to sustain salmon runs is likely to fail in the long run without restoration of river habitats.

Top 10 Consumed Seafood, National Fisheries Institute, aboutseafood.com, 2009 - Lists the top ten species consumed in the United States by pounds per person.

U.S. Trade Internet System, Foreign Ag Service (FAS), USDA.