Salmon is not the name of a fish or a specific valuable species, but of an entire family. Coho salmon, char, chum salmon, pink salmon, trout are all representatives of salmonids, or salmon. If this word is applied to a specific species, it usually means salmon - a rare species in the wild, which, however, can often be found in stores due to industrial breeding.
Which fish tastes better?
- Coho salmon 33%, 1554 votes
1554 votes 33%1554 votes - 33% of all votes
- Salmon 29%, 1387 votes
1387 votes 29%
1387 votes - 29% of all votes
- Trout 27%, 1260 votes
1260 votes 27%
1260 votes - 27% of all votes
- Chum salmon 8%, 394 votes
394 votes 8%
394 votes - 8% of all votes
- Pink salmon 3%, 123 votes
123 votes 3%
123 votes - 3% of all votes
Total votes: 4718
19.12.2019
- Coho salmon 33%, 1554 votes
1554 votes 33%1554 votes - 33% of all votes
- Salmon 29%, 1387 votes
1387 votes 29%
1387 votes - 29% of all votes
- Trout 27%, 1260 votes
1260 votes 27%
1260 votes - 27% of all votes
- Chum salmon 8%, 394 votes
394 votes 8%
394 votes - 8% of all votes
- Pink salmon 3%, 123 votes
123 votes 3%
123 votes - 3% of all votes
Total votes: 4718
19.12.2019
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Description of the species
The salmon family is very diverse. It includes small and giant fish, they can have red or white meat, and they can live in salt or fresh water. But they all have one thing in common:
- breeding only in fresh water bodies, although adults can live in the ocean;
- spotted body coloration, for which the family got its name (the ancient Indo-European root “lah” means “spotted”);
- characteristic features of the body structure;
- large eggs;
- high adaptability to new external conditions, which makes it possible to artificially grow these fish far from their natural habitats;
- high gastronomic properties, each of the salmon is a delicacy.
Atlantic
The genus of Atlantic salmon includes only one species - salmon. It spawns on the east coast of the USA and Canada, as well as on the west coast of Europe from the latitude of Spain to the Baltic, White and Barents seas. In nature, due to predatory fishing, it is rare.
Since Atlantic salmon is very popular in gastronomy, salmon is often farmed artificially. The Norwegians have been especially successful in this; their salmon has long become a brand on the world market.
In Russia, salmon farming is unprofitable due to the unfavorable environment in our seas. The water temperature in them is 2 degrees lower than in Norway, the fry grow much slower, and the economic meaning of such breeding is lost.
The species exists in two forms – migratory and lacustrine. The nature of the passage form is extremely interesting. Unlike most other anadromous salmon, salmon can spawn 3-5 times, rather than once. Some fish return to rivers from feeding not yet fully mature, and grow in the river for a whole year. Their eggs or milt ripen, but during this year the salmon are in spawning mode and do not eat.
Some males do not leave to feed at all, remaining near the spawning grounds. They turn out to be much smaller than the males who fed in the sea, but they fertilize eggs no worse, and sometimes even better: they do not interfere with intraspecific competition between large males, and manage to fertilize more eggs.
Pacific
This genus unites all anadromous salmon that feed in the Pacific Ocean. This:
- pink salmon;
- red salmon;
- chum salmon;
- coho salmon;
- Chinook salmon
Until recently, rainbow trout also belonged to this genus.
Subfamily Salmonidae
This is a broad category that includes freshwater lenok and taimen, char, representatives of the Pacific salmon, noble salmon - numerous varieties of trout and salmon.
All salmon, except chum salmon and pink salmon, have anadromous and residential (freshwater) forms, as well as dwarf males that do not go to sea, although they belong to the anadromous variety.
During feeding time at sea, the appearance of all salmon is similar: silver-gray with black spots. But when the fish goes to spawn, striking differences appear, thanks to which even a non-specialist can distinguish one salmon from another.
Most salmon spawn only once in their lives, then the stock dies, providing nutrients to future young animals. The exception is salmon, both the Atlantic and Kamchatka varieties. She can spawn 3-5 times.
The most numerous representative of salmon is pink salmon. This is a small fish weighing 1.5-2 kg and 50-60 cm long. In fish going to spawn, the jaws are bent in the form of a beak, and in males a hump appears. Most often, the life expectancy of pink salmon is short, only 1.5 years. But if the fish for some reason missed spawning, it can live up to 3 years. Pink salmon, of all salmon, is the least attached to spawning grounds, and may well swim into foreign areas. This happens because at sea the stocks hatched from eggs in Asia and North America mix and go to spawn in newly formed groups.
Chum salmon is also a numerous species. It is distinguished by the presence of transverse red-green and black stripes during the mating season. At this time, males notice the growth of teeth, due to which their mouth stops closing. This is a large fish, about 1 m long and weighing up to 14 kg, although individuals up to 78 cm long and weighing up to 5 kg are more common. The autumn form is larger, and the spring form is smaller. Fish breed from 3 to 10 years old; most of those going to spawn are 5 years old.
Sockeye salmon is clearly different from other salmon in the color of its meat: it is not pink, but bright red. Otherwise, outside the mating season, it resembles chum salmon. The only difference is in the rigidity of the caudal fin: a chum salmon can be lifted by the tail with one hand, but a sockeye salmon cannot: its caudal fin easily folds and slips out of the hand. But the sockeye salmon going to spawn is recognizable even from the description: its skin is completely red, as in the photo. This and the color of the meat determined the unofficial name of sockeye salmon - red fish.
There is freshwater sockeye salmon, or kokanee. It is smaller, only 28 cm, weighing up to half a kilogram.
The migratory form has dwarf individuals that remain on the spawning grounds until the mating season, which occurs at 3-4 years of age. Unlike other salmon, dwarf sockeye salmon have both males and females. Sockeye salmon usually return to the same spawning area where they hatched.
Coho salmon is a fish measuring 40-80 cm, weighing 6-8 kg. The mating color is dark brown or crimson; in males the upper jaw changes, forming a “beak”, as in the photo. The length of an adult fish is 70-80 cm, weight 6-8 kg. It spawns only in running water, the breeding age is 4 years, but this fish goes to sea quite late - at 2, sometimes at 4 years of life. It is rarely found on sale, since the number of coho salmon is relatively small.
Chinook salmon is the largest representative of the subfamily, which is informally called “king salmon.” Its length is up to 1.5 m, and its weight is more than 50 kg, although in Kamchatka meter-long individuals weighing 10-15 kg are more common. Spawning occurs at 4-7 years. The industrial catch is small, only 1-2 thousand tons.
Loaches are a large genus of salmon with small scales, which includes about a dozen species with different habitats. All loaches have freshwater and anadromous forms. These fish can spawn several times while remaining alive.
The commercial value of this fish is small, despite the high taste of the meat. The average size of caught fish is 40-50 cm, weight 1.5-2 kg. Loaches mature slowly; they reach the age of migration at 2-9 years.
Each year, only part of the school takes part in breeding, but non-breeding individuals still return to the spawning grounds.
Subfamily Whitefish
Includes valuable species of freshwater fish - whitefish, muksun, omul, vendace and others.
Muksun is a delicious fish. It lives in the north of Siberia - in rivers, lakes and desalinated sea bays. It reproduces easily in captivity, thanks to which the wild form is not in danger of extinction. This fish weighs 6-8 kg (there are specimens up to 13 kg), length – up to 75 cm. The color is blue, darker on the back and lighter on the belly.
Omul is divided into two groups - Arctic and more valuable Baikal.
Arctic omul is a northern salmon with an average length of 26-40 cm and a weight of up to 1, less often 3-4 kg. It lives up to 16 years, although ten-year-old individuals most often end up on the table. The main habitat is the Lena River basin. Omul is able to live in difficult conditions. Among the areas where this salmon lives, there are those in which the water salinity reaches 20-22 and even higher. In summer, omul can be found at fairly high latitudes, right up to the New Siberian Islands. The spawning of omul occurs in the same way as that of salmon, but it does not always die after spawning; females can spawn 2-3 times during their life.
The Baikal omul is a smaller, up to 28 cm in length, relative of the Arctic, which during the last glaciation, 20 thousand years ago, ended up in Baikal, where it was then isolated. Now this fish is the pride of Baikal. Although in recent years the number of Baikal omul has decreased and quotas for its catch have been introduced. But thanks to the fact that one of the varieties of Baikal omul is successfully bred artificially, this fish can still be found on sale.
Peled, or cheese, is a fish about 50 cm long. It weighs 2-3 kg. Unlike other salmon, it perfectly tolerates the lack of oxygen in the water, so its habitat is lakes, and less often - channels. This fish avoids running waters. In winter it does not hibernate. It lives in rivers and lakes of the northern sea basins from the White to the East Siberian, and does not rise high to the sources.
Whitefish live in the same place as peled, additionally living in the Baltic region, Alaska and Canada. There is a unique species of Transbaikal whitefish, famous for spawning in the spring. Whitefish looks exceptionally diverse. Its dimensions range from 15 to 60 cm, weight – from 1 to 12 kg. There are semi-anadromous and lake varieties.
Subfamily Grayling
There is only one genus in this family of freshwater fish - grayling. It is very similar to salmon. Graylings look more beautiful and graceful, but their main difference is the large dorsal fin in males, with which they increase the efficiency of fertilization of eggs during spawning, directing water flows in a special way. Graylings live in lakes of Eurasia and North America.
Reproduction and offspring
In northern river waters, the spawning period occurs in the second half of September or October, with average water temperatures ranging from 0-8°C. In the southern regions, Salmon spawn from October to January, at a water temperature of 3-13°C. The eggs are deposited in depressions dug in the bottom soil, after which they are lightly sprinkled with a mixture based on pebbles and sand.
This is interesting! The behavior of salmon representatives during the period of migration and spawning changes, therefore, at the ascent stage, the fish is very active, plays intensely and can jump quite high out of the water, but closer to the spawning process itself, such jumps become extremely rare.
After spawning, the fish loses weight and quickly weakens, as a result of which a significant part of it dies, and all surviving individuals partially go into sea or lake waters, but can remain in rivers until spring.
In rivers, spawned salmon representatives do not go far from the spawning site, but are able to move to the deepest and fairly quiet places. In the spring, young individuals appear from the spawned eggs, similar in appearance to pied trout . Juveniles spend from one to five years in river waters.
Over such a period of time, individuals can grow up to 15-18 cm in length. Before rolling into sea or lake waters, the juveniles lose their characteristic speckled color and their scales acquire a silvery color. It is in the seas and lakes that salmon begin to actively feed and quickly gain weight.
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Where does it live?
The natural habitat of salmon fish covers almost all the seas of the Northern Hemisphere, but plantations of anadromous species also exist in the Southern Hemisphere. This was made possible due to the high adaptability of salmon.
The main spawning grounds for migratory species are located in the rivers of Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Kuril and Alaska. Most freshwater species live in rivers and lakes of Siberia and the Far East, but one subspecies of taimen is also found in the Danube.
But feeding of migratory forms always occurs at sea. Therefore, it is not easy to say where salmon live.
Where do salmon live?
Salmon or salmon is considered an anadromous species of the salmon family, but some of this fish that grows in rivers does not go to the seas, but lives in these rivers and river mouths, mostly dwarf male salmon. They take part in the spawning of females coming from the sea, which feed and mature in the sea with abundant food. In rivers, female wild salmon, as a rule, do not mature and therefore live in the sea for 1-4 years, making long migrations to the shores of Greenland. Once ripe for spawning, female salmon return to rivers to spawn.
Salmon or noble salmon feeds in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean and is found off the coast of Iceland and Norway, as well as off the coast of the Kola Peninsula in the waters of the Barents, White, North and Baltic seas and in the rivers flowing into these seas. To spawn, salmon enter rivers over very vast territories, from Portugal in the south to the White Sea and the Kara River of the Urals in the north. Along the American coast, salmon is distributed from the Connecticut River in the south to the island of Greenland in the north.
Previously, salmon was very numerous in all rivers of Europe where there were suitable spawning grounds. But the number of this fish began to decline sharply, due to active fishing, further due to disruption of the water condition of rivers and pollution of reservoirs, and in recent years, salmon poaching has become a global problem in the extermination of this fish. Currently, protection measures and regulation of fishing have been introduced, and the fight against illegal salmon fishing is underway. Therefore, fishing for salmon or salmon is not so simple and accessible. To increase the salmon population, in many countries, artificial breeding and restoration of spawning and nursery grounds are carried out.
In Russia, there are forms of freshwater lake salmon in the lakes of the Kola Peninsula, and salmon are also found in the Kuito lake system, in lakes Nyukozero, Kamennoye, Vygozero, Segozero, Sandal, Yanisjärvi, Onega and Ladoga. In Europe, freshwater salmon live in many bodies of water, for example in Norway in the Otra and Namsen river system, in Sweden in Lake Vänern, and in Finland in Lake Saimaa and other large lakes in Scandinavia.
What does it eat?
All salmon are predators. Their food depends on their size. The newly hatched fry prey on zooplankton, the smallest aquatic animals. The fish grows, and its food becomes larger. First these are worms, crustaceans, and then fry of other species.
When salmon reach 15-25 cm in length, they form schools and go to the sea or to deeper freshwater bodies. Here he eats fish and other inhabitants of the upper layers of sea water.
When the time comes to return to their homeland for spawning, most species stop eating altogether. After all, having spawned, they will die, and there is no point in wasting energy on hunting. In addition, there is simply no food familiar to adult salmon in the upper reaches of the rivers.
A species of fish of the salmon subfamily
Salmonidae used to be on one list of fish, but today they have been allocated to another family. For this reason, even scientists still cannot correctly classify them. But you can still divide salmon into three groups:
- Pacific (Far Eastern) salmon;
- Atlantic (noble) salmon;
- loaches.
The most common fish are from the first two groups, where the word “salmon” is used, translated from Indo-European meaning “speckled”. The name is translated from Latin as “jumping,” which is explained by the peculiar behavior of fish during reproduction. Each salmon has its own habits and characteristic features, so it is sometimes only possible for specialists to distinguish one species from another.
Pacific individuals include:
- chinook salmon - the largest among the Pacific, can weigh up to 50 kg, has pronounced gill stripes, extremely nutritious and healthy meat;
- pink salmon - a small fish, up to 70 cm long, has a characteristic spotted pattern, the male changes at the time of spawning, acquiring teeth and a hump;
- chum salmon is an elongated fish of small size, with grayish scales, small eyes and tender meat, which is good as a dietary food;
- sockeye salmon - its body and meat color are almost the same shade of bright red;
- coho salmon is a small, silvery fish that can acquire a reddish body color during the breeding season.
Noble specimens include:
- salmon is the largest of the family, has a silvery body with a small number of specks, can be up to 1 meter in length, and can weigh up to 45 kg;
- Sevan Ishkhan - lives in Lake Sevan, grows up to 90 cm in length and weighs up to 17 kg.
Separately, it is worth highlighting trout, which belongs to the salmon family. It comes in different types, depending on where it lives and what the color of its body is:
- Adriatic;
- Sevan;
- Turkish flathead;
- stream, lake;
- Amudarya;
- gold;
- rainbow;
- marble, etc.
Although similar in appearance to other salmon trout, they differ from them in their “potbelliness.” It also has a darker and more variegated color, which, however, depends on the quality of the water where this fish lives. Trout can be immediately recognized by the pearlescent pink stripes on the sides. She also has quite large grains of caviar, but there is not very much of it.
Sea or river
Among salmon there are both freshwater and anadromous, or anadromous forms. Such fish hatch from eggs in fresh water bodies and go to sea to mature. When the time comes to reproduce, they return from the sea to the same body of water and even the same shallows where they themselves appeared. Pink salmon, sockeye salmon, chum salmon and many other salmon behave this way.
Sockeye salmon can remain living in fresh water bodies if there is enough food in them.
Therefore, from a biological point of view, salmon are not completely marine inhabitants. Gastronomy takes the opposite point of view, and for the cook, salmon caught at sea or at the mouth of a river on the way to spawn (salmon, chinook salmon, coho salmon) will be sea salmon, and freshwater trout will be river trout.
Few people know that freshwater species - trout, Baikal omul, taimen - also leave large rivers and lakes for small reservoirs or mountain streams during the spawning period.
Types of salmon
The name “salmon” is of Indo-European origin, from the word “lax”, translated as “spotted”, “speckled”. In Rus', the word had a feminine gender, and only in the 16th century it began to be considered masculine. The Latin name Salmonidae is the name of the salmon family, translated as “jumping”, this explains the behavior of individuals during spawning.
The salmon family includes many fish, the list of species is extensive, and according to their habitat they are divided into:
- Kamchatka salmon;
- Norwegian salmon;
- Pacific salmon;
- Baltic salmon;
- Caspian salmon;
- Black Sea salmon.
The family of these representatives of salmon fish includes:
- pink salmon;
- salmon;
- trout;
- grayling;
- red salmon;
- omul;
- salmon;
- Chinook;
- chum salmon;
- taimen;
- whitefish.
By the way, read more on this topic: Salmon tartare recipe
Meat white or red
Housewives often say, meaning salmon: “red fish.” It would seem logical: salmon and literally all other migratory salmon have red meat. But sturgeon are actually called red fish, and not because of the color of the meat, it is creamy white. “Red” in the Old Russian language refers not only to scarlet and its shades, but also to beautiful (“red maiden”), indicating wealth, luxurious. Sturgeon has always been a product of the highest class, an attribute of the festive feasts of the nobility, one of the symbols of Rus'.
Interesting. The color of salmon meat depends on its species, the period in which the fish was caught, and the amount of shrimp in its diet.
It’s a paradox, but salmon are white fish. True, not all salmon, but only delicious representatives of this species with white meat - muksun, nelma, omul, whitefish.
Species that have red meat, and these are salmon, sockeye salmon, chinook salmon, pink salmon, chum salmon, coho salmon, trout and many others, which most people associate with “red fish,” are correctly called simply “salmon.”
Species of the salmon family
Now we will talk in more detail about the most interesting and common representatives of this family and their characteristic differences.
Salmon
Salmon is otherwise called “northern” or “noble” salmon.
It is the most valuable type of fish of this family, as it is famous for its delicious and tender meat, which has many vitamins and microelements. The habitat of salmon is mainly the White Sea. Salmon can grow up to a meter and a half in length. Their body is covered with silver-colored scales, and the characteristic salmon spots on the sides are practically invisible. Salmon prefers to feed on small fish, and eats little during the breeding season and changes its appearance. Spawning salmon can be easily recognized by the bright red or orange spots that appear on the sides and head.
Pink salmon
It is quite easy to distinguish pink salmon from other representatives of this genus by their very small scales of a silver hue, as well as the presence of a large number of spots in the tail area. During the spawning period, pink salmon greatly transforms its appearance, as well as its coloring. Females become almost black, especially the head and fins, while males grow teeth and a hump forms on their back.
Pink salmon grows to 65-70 cm in length, no more. Habitat: Pacific Ocean and Atlantic. During the spawning period, pink salmon move to rivers both on the North American continent and in Russian Siberia. At the same time, it does not rise far against the current.
Pink salmon have fairly large caviar, ranging in size from 5 to 8 mm. After spawning, all the fish die. Pink salmon begin to spawn at the age of three or four years. The diet of pink salmon includes small fish, mollusks and crustaceans. According to many scientists, pink salmon is a relatively heat-loving fish, as it enters wintering areas where the water does not cool below +5 degrees. Pink salmon is a valuable variety of commercial fish and is considered a globally recognized seafood product. They tried to breed pink salmon in other reservoirs, but it did not take root.
Chum salmon
Chum salmon is also a low-fat fish. Despite this, the fat content in the meat is higher than that of pink salmon. This is a larger, more widespread and widespread species of the Far Eastern salmon family. It can reach a length of more than 1 meter. Chum salmon are well known for their large, bright orange caviar.
The marine outfit in which the fish of the salmon family is dressed is painted silver and has no stripes or spots. In rivers, the fish changes its color to brownish-yellow with dark crimson stripes. During spawning, the body of chum salmon becomes completely black. The size of the teeth, especially in males, increases. And the meat becomes not at all fatty, whitish and flabby. The fish matures for spawning at 3-5 years of age. Enters Siberian rivers to spawn:
- Kolyma.
- Lena.
- Yanu et al.
Red salmon
Let's consider another genus of Far Eastern representatives, this is a fish of the salmon family - sockeye salmon. It is interesting because the individual caught in the sea is red. Sometimes it is called that - red fish. Its meat has excellent taste. And during spawning it turns white. The size of this representative of the salmon family does not exceed 80 cm, weight on average is from 2 to 4 kg. Sockeye salmon is not as common in our country as pink salmon and chum salmon. It only enters the rivers of Kamchatka, Anadyr, and the rivers of the Kuril Islands.
Red fish are a cold-loving species of salmon. You will not find it in the sea, where the temperature exceeds 2 degrees Celsius. Sockeye salmon caviar is quite small - 4.7 mm, intensely red. The mating costume of sockeye salmon is very impressive: the back and sides are bright red, the head is green, and the fins are blood red. Spawns in lakes and in places where groundwater comes out. Red fish most often become sexually mature at 5-6 years of age. In the sea, it feeds mainly on crustacean fauna.
Coho salmon
The habitat of this representative of the salmon family is the Pacific Ocean, and for spawning it enters rivers on the North American continent and Asia.
Coho salmon have bright silver scales, which is why it is also called “silver salmon.” Coho salmon usually grow to a length of 60 centimeters, although some individuals can grow up to 80-85 centimeters.
Spawning of this fish continues from September to March, and often this occurs already under the crust of ice that has formed on the reservoirs. During the breeding season, coho salmon, both males and females, who have reached the age of three years, acquire a bright crimson color.
Note that coho salmon is a fairly heat-loving fish. It prefers for wintering ponds where the temperature does not fall below 5 degrees, optimally nine.
Chinook
It is perhaps the largest representative of Pacific salmon, and also the most valuable. Chinook salmon grows in length up to 85-90 centimeters, and can weigh up to 50 kilograms.
Its main difference from its relatives is the many gill rays; the Chinook salmon has more than fifteen of them.
Most often, this fish is found near the North American continent, and sometimes also enters the rivers of the Russian Far East, for example, in Kamchatka, to spawn. The breeding season of this fish continues throughout the summer, and the chinook salmon independently, with the help of a strong tail, makes holes in the pebble bottom, where it lays its eggs.
The lifespan of Chinook salmon usually does not exceed seven years. On average, these fish live 4-5 years. Its diet is small fish. The Chinook salmon fishery is quite developed - the fish has tasty red meat, rich in many useful substances.
Brown trout
Sesame, which lives in the Russian Baltic, Black, White and Aral seas, is also called taimen salmon.
This is a migratory fish that goes to spawn in the rivers of European countries. It usually reaches 40-70 centimeters in length and weighs two to five kilograms. However, some particularly large brown trout are found weighing up to 15 kilograms.
This is a popular commercial fish, valued for its tasty and healthy meat. Brown trout have a rather variable lifestyle: they spawn mainly in the upper reaches of rivers, do not migrate over long distances, and love fresh water, in which they spend several years after birth.
Trout found in the Black and Azov Seas is otherwise called Black Sea salmon.
Whitefish
This small representative of the salmon family is found both in fresh water bodies and in salt seas.
Basically, whitefish live up to 7-10 years, but some representatives of whitefish are long-livers - they live up to 20 years and reach a length of about 50 centimeters.
This is a silver-colored fish with dark fins. It is customary to distinguish several dozen species of whitefish, many of which differ little from each other. However, there is one clear difference between whitefish and its fellow salmon: the meat of this fish is white.
Calories and nutritional value
The nutritional value of salmon differs depending not only on the cooking method, but also on the type of fish. Here is the composition of nutrients in 100 g of the most common foods.
| Calories, kcal | Proteins, g | Fats, g | Carbohydrates, g | |
| Passage views | ||||
| Pink salmon | ||||
| Raw | 127 | 20,5 | 4,4 | 0 |
| Salty | 169 | 22,1 | 9 | 0 |
| Boiled | 152 | 21,8 | 7,3 | 0 |
| Grill | 153 | 24,58 | 5,28 | 0 |
| Chum salmon | ||||
| Raw | 120 | 20,14 | 3,77 | 0 |
| Salty | 184 | 24,3 | 9,6 | 0 |
| Grill | 154 | 25,82 | 4,83 | 0 |
| Wild coho salmon | ||||
| Raw | 146 | 21,62 | 5,93 | 0 |
| Grill | 139 | 23,45 | 4,3 | 0 |
| For a couple | 184 | 27,36 | 7,5 | 0 |
| Farmed coho salmon | ||||
| Raw | 160 | 21,27 | 7,67 | 0 |
| Grill | 178 | 24,3 | 8,23 | 0 |
| Migratory (“sea”) trout, or brown trout | ||||
| Raw | 104 | 16,74 | 3,61 | 0 |
| Grill | 133 | 21,46 | 4,63 | 0 |
| Atlantic salmon (salmon) wild | ||||
| Raw | 142 | 19,84 | 6,34 | 0 |
| Grill | 182 | 25,44 | 8,13 | 0 |
| Farmed Atlantic salmon | ||||
| Raw | 208 | 22,1 | 12,35 | 0 |
| Grill | 206 | 20,42 | 13,42 | 0 |
| Salty | 202 | 22,5 | 12,5 | 0 |
| Chinook | ||||
| Raw | 179 | 19,93 | 10,43 | 0 |
| Smoked | 117 | 18,28 | 4,32 | 0 |
| Grill | 231 | 25,72 | 13,38 | 0 |
| Red salmon | ||||
| Raw | 131 | 22,25 | 4,69 | 0 |
| Grill | 156 | 26,48 | 5,57 | 0 |
| Freshwater species with red meat | ||||
| Taimen | ||||
| Raw | 119 | 18,9 | 4,8 | 0 |
| Wild rainbow trout | ||||
| Raw | 119 | 20,48 | 3,46 | 0 |
| Grill | 150 | 22,92 | 5,82 | 0 |
| Farmed rainbow trout | ||||
| Raw | 141 | 19,94 | 6,18 | 0 |
| Grill | 168 | 23,8 | 7,38 | 0 |
| Freshwater species with white meat | ||||
| Belorybitsa | ||||
| Raw | 274 | 20,1 | 21,5 | 0 |
| Muksun | ||||
| Raw | 121 | 18,5 | 5,2 | 0 |
| Nelma | ||||
| Raw | 160 | 19,4 | 9,2 | 0 |
| Omul | ||||
| Raw | 152 | 19,2 | 8,3 | 0 |
| Whitefish | ||||
| Raw | 144 | 19 | 7,5 | 0 |
| Smoked | 177 | 16,36 | 11,9 | 0 |
What is salmon called?
Fish with red meat, prepared even according to a simple recipe, will decorate any holiday table. And although it is believed that it is called salmon, it is still only a collective name, meaning a considerable number of species of fish of the same family.
Scientists conditionally divide it into three subfamilies:
- actually salmon;
- grayling;
- whitefish.
Individuals from the first subfamily are salmon. The shape of salmonids is close to that of herring-shaped fish, which is why they were previously combined into one order. But then salmonids were nevertheless separated into another family, which today numbers more than 170 species of fish. Of such a wide variety, pink salmon, chum salmon, palia, sockeye salmon, and coho salmon are well known in our country.
Price for 1 kg
Prices for representatives of the salmon family vary greatly. How much a delicacy costs depends on:
- type of fish;
- method of extraction (wild, farm)
- cutting method (non-gutted, carcass with head, carcass without head, steaks, fillets);
- storage options (frozen, chilled, salted, smoked);
- store cheats.
How much salmon costs per kilogram primarily reflects the value of its type, although the choice of store is also of great importance.
It affects the price and shelf life: chilled salmon is always more expensive than frozen salmon, although “chilled” usually means a thawed product. But proper defrosting, while preserving the taste of the fish, significantly reduces its sales period, and the seller includes risks in the price.
Generally, gutted fish are more expensive than ungutted fish, but this does not apply to salmon. After all, the caviar of fish of this family is a delicacy in itself, and buying uneviscerated fish and then salting the caviar is more profitable for the buyer than buying separately meat or separately prepared salted caviar. But this is not an acquired taste: not everyone is ready to deal with gutting fish and salting caviar themselves.
As an example, let’s give prices for fresh frozen gutted fish in one of the budget federal retail chains (data current as of December 2021).
| View | Price for 1 kg |
| Chum salmon Kamchatka | |
| with your head | 450 |
| Headless | 379 |
| Kamchatka sockeye salmon | |
| with your head | 670 |
| Headless | 692 |
| Pink salmon Sakhalin with head | 229 |
| Char with head | 237 |
White fish belongs to a different price class: it is much more expensive and less common on sale. A kilogram of freshly frozen omul will cost 690 rubles, muksun - from 750 rubles.
History and geography
Salmonids are one of the earliest ancestors of modern bony fish. For comparison: most of the species known and familiar to us developed about 50-25 million years ago, while salmon have been known for as much as 140 million. The name salmon comes from the Indo-European word “lax”, which translates as “to become covered in spots”, and is associated with external spawning changes, which we will talk about a little later. Salmon live in the northern hemisphere, in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. As for the habitat, salmon are anadromous fish species, that is, they spend part of their life in the sea, and part in inflowing rivers. This is connected, again, with spawning. All salmon spawn in the fresh running water of the rivers closest to the sea. This is due to the fact that their ancestors were freshwater, and only a few individual species, which later became Pacific and Atlantic salmon, evolved as anadromous ones. Salmon are born in fresh water, then migrate to the sea, where they grow for an average of 2-5 years, after which they return to their places of birth to spawn.
Economic importance
All types of salmon fish are highly valued in cooking. Their tasty meat has many beneficial properties. It contains unsaturated fatty acids, which helps fight cholesterol deposits. Therefore, you should not be afraid of the high fat content of fish. Salmon protein is quite easily absorbed by the body. Migratory species contain important microelements that are usually lacking in the food of residents of iodine-deficient regions.
In the last century, salmon, previously known mainly to residents of the regions where this fish is found, has gained popularity. Extensive industrial fishing began, and the populations of most salmon species were threatened. To preserve the biological diversity of salmon, aquaculture technology was developed - “farm” fish farming. Now most of the salmon on our table are artificially farmed. Although there are regions (Far East) where catching wild fish is allowed.
Useful properties of salmon
The benefits of salmon are due to their rich composition. Sea fish contains a lot of protein and fat, and the calorie content of salmon is only 172 kcal. This feature makes the fish truly unique. According to the BJU ratio, it contains 65.7% protein, 31.7% fat and 2.5% carbohydrates.
Useful composition:
- Easily digestible protein.
- Polyunsaturated fatty acids.
- Omega 3 and 6.
- Vitamins A, E, B and D.
- Amino acids, including essential ones
- Microelements: potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, molybdenum and others.
Nutritional value:
- Fish is absorbed by the body by 98%, while for dietary rabbit meat this figure is only 90%.
- It contains a lot of protein and quite a large amount of fat, so it is extremely nutritious. The dishes quickly satisfy your hunger.
- Just 100 grams of red fish can cover 30% of the body's daily protein needs.
- Salmon meat is a real storehouse of vitamins, amino acids and microelements.
- Salmon caviar contains a large amount of “good” cholesterol. It helps reduce the amount of low-density lipoproteins, which are responsible for the formation of atherosclerotic plaques.
Due to its high protein content, fillet is recommended to be included in the menu for athletes who want to build muscle mass. Due to its rich protein and amino acid composition, regular consumption of fish promotes rapid regeneration of muscle fibers. That is why it is recommended to include it in their diet for people whose profession involves high physical activity.
Salmon to preserve beauty and youth:
- Regular consumption of fish dishes helps improve the condition of the skin, it acquires a healthy color and freshness. Vitamins and Omega-3 are responsible for this.
- Improving the condition of hair and nails. Thanks to the high content of vitamins A and E, hair acquires a healthy shine and nail brittleness is reduced.
- A combination of a protein diet including seafood and physical exercise will help get rid of cellulite and “tighten” your figure. Salmon is also very useful for weight loss.
Sea fish contains a large amount of B vitamins, so it is incredibly beneficial for the nervous system. Polyunsaturated fatty acids stimulate mental activity, help increase stress resistance and stimulate the formation of new neural connections.
Benefits for the nervous system:
- Stimulation of brain activity. Regular consumption of fish improves learning ability.
- Increasing the body's resistance to stress. If you have a very nervous job, salmon will help you react more calmly to conflict situations.
- Restoration of nerve cells. Salmon is an excellent prevention of degenerative diseases of the nervous system.
- Salmon dishes are recommended to improve memory.
Red fish can be consumed by patients with atherosclerosis. It contains only “good” cholesterol, which reduces the concentration of low-density lipoproteins. This means that seafood can be considered a prevention of the formation of atherosclerotic plaques.
Due to its low carbohydrate content, people suffering from diabetes can include mogul salmon in their diet.
It is good for eye health. Contains large amounts of vitamin A or retinol. It is the lack of this substance that often becomes the main cause of vision impairment.
Can I eat it raw?
If you've just caught your own salmon, gutted it and are about to eat it, it's best to take your time and cook it. Otherwise, you are at risk of diphyllobothriasis, and you can get opisthorchiasis from whitefish. Both of these serious diseases are caused by helminths, or, more simply, by worms, the larvae of which live in fish.
To protect yourself from diphyllobothriasis, it is enough to boil or fry fresh fish for 15-30 minutes. But the parasite tolerates freezing worse and dies in just 9 days in a regular home freezer. Therefore, fish caught commercially and prepared and frozen directly on the ship is safe after defrosting. But weak salting does not kill the larvae, so it is better to salt thawed fish, or salt it steeply, sprinkling small pieces of meat with a large amount of salt. It will be safe, but not everyone will like the taste.
Opisthorchiasis is an incurable disease that affects the liver and bile ducts. There is still no medicine that is guaranteed to rid a person of the Siberian fluke, the parasite that causes this disease. Humans and the Siberian fluke have the same tastes for fish: it also prefers the most valuable salmon, inhabitants of Siberian rivers. Therefore, you can eat the same muksun raw (and the famous stroganina is a dish made from raw fish) only if the product has passed laboratory control.
For opisthorchiasis larvae to stop being alive, it takes 3 weeks in a household freezer. Industrial chambers, the temperature in which drops to -28-30 degrees, will cope with parasites in just a few days.
Siberian fluke larvae tolerate high temperatures quite well. To make raw fish safe, boil it for 10-15 minutes, then cut it into small pieces and fry it covered. Well-frozen products are much easier to prepare and, as a result, retain their unique taste.
Fish for sushi in Russia must be pre-frozen. Restaurants receive products that have passed multi-stage veterinary control and certification. Therefore, sushi and sashimi are safe foods if the rules for their preparation and shelf life are followed.
How salmon is usually prepared
There are many dishes made from red fish meat - chefs suggest baking, boiling, frying it. But this meat tastes better when lightly salted. The value of this product is that without heat treatment, all useful components are preserved in the fish. If you subject the fish to heat treatment, it is better to bake it in the oven or boil the fish soup. Such dishes do not greatly burden the digestive tract and are suitable even for those people who suffer from diseases of the stomach and intestines.
Salmon is often prepared as a steak. Here is one of the simplest recipes, which requires 1 salmon steak, half a lemon, 30 g of butter, salt and pepper to taste. The cooking process is as follows:
- Salt and pepper the steak.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on a heated frying pan and place a piece of butter on top.
- Place the steak on the melted butter and fry on both sides until done. Approximately 2-3 minutes on each side.
- Place the finished steak on a plate and sprinkle with herbs.
Dishes made from salmon, which has fatty meat, are delicious. It is also distinguished by the presence of amino acids and protein, which are easily absorbed by the body. Sockeye salmon, chinook salmon and coho salmon are also considered among the fattest ones - their meat is tender and high in calories.
Thus, salmon is not just any fish, but a family that includes different species. It is considered a valuable commercial fish and is popular for its special taste characteristics and benefits for the body.
The largest in the world
The largest salmon is taimen. This freshwater predator reaches a length of 1-1.5 m and a weight of up to 80 kg. In 1943, a taimen 2100 cm long and weighing 105 kg was caught in the Kotui River (a tributary of the Khatanga) in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Salmon, Atlantic salmon, smaller. The world's largest specimen was caught in 1860 in Lithuania: caught at the mouth of the Neman, it weighed 46.5 kg. The second largest salmon, 1.2 m long and weighing 40 kg, was caught in California.
Appearance
Adults have a body length of up to 2 m, their maximum weight ranges from 68 to 70 kg. In terms of body structure, they resemble representatives of herring fish. It is noteworthy that all salmonids were once classified in this order, but later they were separated into an independent order.
Salmon looks like this:
- long body, laterally compressed;
- round comb scales;
- pelvic fins in several rays, localized in the central part of the abdomen;
- dorsal fins (true and anal).
According to the description of the order, salmonids are characterized by the presence of a so-called adipose fin of miniature size. The dorsal fin may consist of 10-16 rays. For comparison, graylings have an average of 20 rays. The swim bladder is usually connected to the esophagus through a special channel.
The oral cavity is protected by four bones. In females, during the breeding season, eggs easily move from the ovary to the body cavity. The intestine has an impressive number of pyloric branches. Most members of the family have transparent eyelids. The skeletal part of many species is not completely ossified.
