Picture courtesy of Dr. Mart R. Gross, Conservation Biology and Fisheries Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, http://www.zoo.utoronto.ca/mgross/

    Atlantic salmon is a choice fish for net pen farming. Approximately 10 million and 80 million pounds of Atlantic salmon are produced annually in Washington State and British Columbia respectively. These fish often escape from net pens and although the annual number released is not known, numerous documented escapes of fish numbering in the hundreds of thousands are documented. Initially, there was little fear that these escaped fish would become established in the Inland Waters because early attempts to establish the Atlantic salmon in the Inland Waters of Washington for sport fishing uniformly failed. In 1998 evidence appeared that demonstrated that aquaculture-escaped Atlantic salmon were naturally reproducing in a Coastal British Columbia river. Stomach content analysis indicates these fish have a large dietary overlap with native steelhead and may out-compete native steelhead if they are able to occupy a vacant area prior to steelhead.

   Atlantic Salmon reared in net pens look different than the wild-borne progeny of Atlantic Salmon that have escaped net pens. Note the rounded fins, twisted kype, and heavier body weight of farm raised fish relative to wild ones.

Additional information may be found on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Atlantic Salmon Fact Sheet http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/factshts/atlanticsalmon.htm