Given that it has a better fecundity rate than the famed
Caspian Sea sturgeon, is salmon the best alternative to the now endangered sturgeon
sourced caviar?
By: Ringo Bones
Since the late 1990s, salmon sourced caviar – i.e. salmon
roe – had been promoted as a better alternative to the endangered Caspian Sea
sturgeon sourced caviar as typified by the “Sustainable Salmon Roe Caviar”
advert. While salmon not only has a much better fecundity rate than the now
endangered Caspian Sea sturgeon but also there are several species of salmon
that are commercially fished. But which species of salmon makes the best
Caspian Sea sturgeon caviar substitute?
An important food and game fish, salmon is found in northern
regions. It is characterized by a long body, small cycloid scales and a small
fatty fin on the dorsal surface opposite the anal fin and the absence of
spines. It is related to the trout. Salmon typically swim up from the oceans or
lakes into rivers or streams to spawn. They usually return to the same waters
in which they were hatched; some scientists believe that the salmon find their
way by smell. Some species of salmon are landlocked in lakes.
The Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, is found on both sides of
the Atlantic and once was common in waters north of the Hudson River. Now it is
limited to a few rivers in eastern Maine and Canada. Pollution – primarily PCBs
or polychlorinated biphenyls before they are banned, impassable dams near the
mouth of rivers, overfishing, destruction of spawning grounds through
deforestation and loss of their young in hydroelectric power plant turbines
have all contributed to reducing the population of this fish.
The adult fish migrates from the ocean into rivers in its
fifth year, when it weighs 8 to 16 pounds. It spawns over gravel beds, where
the eggs remain buried for five to six months before the fish hatch. When the
fish is about one month old, it comes out of the gravel and feeds on
crustaceans. After dark vertical bands and red spots have formed on the sides,
it is called parr. At the end of their third winter, when it has lost its
markings and become silvery, it is called smolt. It is then 5 to 6 inches long.
The smolt moves downstream to the sea, where it feeds on fishes and grows
rapidly for about two years. Then as an adult, the salmon moves upstream but
returns to the ocean after it has spawned. A variety of the Atlantic salmon –
the landlocked salmon, Salmo salar Sebago – is found in some lakes of the
northeastern United States and the Maritime Provinces.
The Pacific salmon
belongs to the genus Oncorhynchus. There are five species in the eastern Pacific.
The red sockeye or blueback salmon – Oncorhynchus nekra – averages 2 feet in
length and weighs 3 ½ to 8 pounds with exceptional specimens reaching 100
pounds. The coho or silver salmon – Oncorhynchus kisutch – reaches 15 inches
and weighs about 3 to 8 pounds. The pink or humpback salmon – Oncorhynchus gorbuscha
– weighs about 6 pounds. The chum, keta or dog salmon – Oncorhynchus keta –
grows to 12 pounds. The adult lives in the ocean and when mature swims up the
rivers of its birth to spawn over gravel. Some species, like the king and coho,
make long journeys; others like the pink and chum, move only short distances
upstream. The spawning season varies from late summer to early winter. The
nest, or redd, is a depression in the bottom of the stream, where the eggs
incubate in gravel.
Unlike the Atlantic salmon, the Pacific salmon dies after
spawning. After a period that varies with the species, the young move down the
sea to feed. The pacific salmon is the most valuable fishery resource belonging
to the United States. About 90-percent of U.S. production and 55-percent of
world production is taken in Alaska. The Pacific salmon is also among the most
popular sport fishes. The salmon is classified in the order Clupeiformes,
family Salmonidae.
