Atlantic Salmon

• Atlantic Salmon, often referred to as the ‘king of fish’, is renowned for its vast migrations across the North Atlantic and for its ability to leap over obstacles as it makes its way upstream when it returns to the river of its birth
• there has been a substantial decline in the Atlantic Salmon population in our local rivers as a result of pollution in fresh water, habitat degradation, water-abstraction, overfishing, supplemental stocking with non-native salmon, introduction of diseases and parasites from salmon farming and stocking, interbreeding with escaped farm salmon, creation of barriers to upstream migration, predation, and increased mortality at sea
• the Atlantic Salmon thrives in the larger, unpolluted river systems of Northern Ireland
• spawning and juvenile stages occur in the turbulent, faster-flowing, and well-oxygenated upstream river tributaries
• the best time to see Atlantic salmon is in the autumn as the adults make their way upstream to the spawning areas, often jumping out of the water, especially to overcome obstacles such as weirs and waterfalls
• Atlantic Salmon returning from sea can be confused with sea trout - the marine migratory form of brown trout
• the largest populations are present in the Melvin, Foyle, Bann and other north coast river systems together with smaller populations in the Glens of Antrim and Mourne rivers
• Atlantic Salmon have been reintroduced to the Lagan, but lack of suitable spawning substrate has prevented re-establishment of a self-sustaining population
• check out how the body form of the Atlantic salmon changes through the seasons
• find out more about our salmon by visiting the River Bush Salmon Station at Bushmills