Atlantic Salmon

LAT Salmo salar
FRA Saumon Atlantique
ITA Salmone dell’Atlantico
ESP Salmón del Atlántico
GER Atlantischer Lachs

One of the Most Popular Fish in Switzerland

Atlantic salmon is one of the most popular and most consumed fish in Switzerland. Its aromatic and juicy meat can be prepared in a variety of ways and is suitable for almost all fish dishes.

Interesting to Know

The Atlantic salmon is found in the northern Atlantic, both along the American East Coast and the European West Coast up to the Iberian Peninsula. As an anadromous migratory fish, the Atlantic salmon ascends rivers to spawn in freshwater. The young salmon spend one to four years in their home river before transforming into “smolts” and migrating into the Atlantic. In the vast feeding grounds of the ocean, salmon can grow to lengths of up to 1.5 meters and reach weights of 30 kg within one to four years, becoming sexually mature. At this point, they return to their birth river to spawn, often covering several hundred kilometers during the arduous migration. Most salmon die after reproduction due to the energy-consuming journey, and only a few manage to return to the sea to spawn again at a later stage.

The orange color of salmon comes from the pigment astaxanthin, a carotenoid naturally present in the salmon’s diet, such as crustaceans, and deposited in the flesh. Astaxanthin is recognized as an antioxidant with positive effects on health. In farmed salmon, astaxanthin, in a more natural production process obtained from algae, is added to the feed.

Fisheries and Sustainability

There is now only a negligible commercial fishery for Atlantic salmon, mostly in the Baltic Sea, Ireland, or Greenland. Traditionally, salmon are caught with lines and hooks as well as gillnets in river estuaries along their migratory routes to spawning grounds. River fishing also has a long tradition among indigenous peoples and sport fishermen.

Wild Atlantic salmon populations experienced a dramatic collapse during the 20th century. The primary cause was less overfishing but habitat destruction: as a migratory fish, salmon depends on unobstructed rivers to reach their spawning grounds. Due to dam construction and power plants, salmon have disappeared from many rivers over the last 150 years. It is now hard to imagine that centuries ago, salmon were abundant even in Swiss cities like Basel along the Rhine.

As salmon today mainly come from aquaculture, sustainable production methods are of paramount importance. The general reputation of the salmon industry is sometimes not favorable, attributed to environmentally damaging practices in salmon farms: pollution of surrounding seabeds due to waste and excess feed, high stocking densities in net pens, use of chemicals in the water for parasite control, antibiotics and herbicides in fish feed, etc. In recent years, the industry in Europe has significantly improved, driven not only by consumer pressure but also by stricter regulations. For instance, parasites (especially sea lice) are now increasingly controlled through mechanical methods (such as lasers) or biological means (using cleaner fish) rather than chemical treatments. The highly toxic herbicide ethoxyquin, formerly used for preserving fish feed and accumulating in the fish, is no longer employed. Moreover, the proportion of fishmeal and fish oil in salmon feed has steadily decreased over the decades, currently accounting for about 45% of the feed (compared to almost 100% in the past). Since there are hardly any new ocean net cages approved in Europe, there is a strong trend towards environmentally friendly, land-based production in closed recirculation systems.

Despite significant improvements in the overall production conditions for salmon in Europe, there are still considerable differences between different farms. Also for culinary reasons, Original Fish offers salmon from farms with low stocking densities, species-appropriate feed free of chemical additives or medications, and that using purely biological or mechanical parasite control methods.