THE SALMON’S LIFE CYCLE

Atlantic salmon spawn in clean, fast-flowing rivers. The female cuts a hollow nest, a redd, in the riverbed and sheds up to 10,000 eggs. After a month or so, the tiny alevins hatch and quickly grow into juvenile fish, known as parr. The parr live in freshwater for two years, then turn silver and migrate to sea as smolts, travelling to Greenland or the Norwegian Sea. One type of salmon, known as grilse, stays at sea for only one winter; bigger, true salmon spend two or more winters feeding and growing. When ready, each fish returns to the exact same place it was born to spawn and begin the next generation.