Atlantic Salmon Escapees

[Pablo2079]

Has anyone ever caught an escapee from a fish farm?

I haven't, but I was wondering if there were any wish the recent high winds that we've had.

Also, why do they use Atlantic salmon instead of Pacific salmon in the majority of the fish farms?

 

[opp-i-ottan]

Nope... haven't seen or even heard about anyone catching Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar). They use them in fish farms because the species is more resistent to disease and parasites (which is rampant and a big problem in fish-farms) than native pacific species!

Oppi

 

[dohboy]

I caught one in the cowichan river yrs ago, and heard of a few others caught, never got one in the chuck though

 

[ratherbefishing]

an additional thought...given the farm raised fish have been genetically selected (some might say modified) for disease resistance, growth, etc... imagine the genetic chaos if they were to do this with farmed Pacific salmon. When a farmed Pacific escapes it can spawn with wild Pacifics (Atlantics cannot spawn with Pacifics). So much for genetic health of a wild/natural stock.

The only way to go is triploid (sterilize) and land base the grow outs. My two cents.

Question: Are you sure the fish you captured in the Cowie was an Atlantic and not a Brown trout?

 

[dohboy]

yes i am sure about it being alantic, i have caught more than my share of browns when steelheading,some as big as 6lbs , and i wasnt alone when i caught this alantic , the people around me were not novices either

 

[Dave H]

I know six or seven guys who caught escaped Atlantics back when it was a much worse problem than it is today. Most were caught in the Salmon River, as it seemed to entice a good number up it for some reason, some pure speculation being they may have originally come from the hatchery on Big Tree Creek and were therefore somewhat imprinted as smolts. That's not been researched that I'm aware of however, so is pure spec.
Jeremy Maynard caught one in the Campbell one day while guiding some Japanese anglers. He'd painstakingly explained to them that if they caught anything they would have to release it so they were quite horrified when their guide killed the first fish caught, the Atlantic.
Gerry Mitchell, Rich Glover and another couple of guys from Sayward caught quite a few from the Salmon and the late great Bruce Gerhart and I cast to a small school of them one day but didn't hook any.
In the past 10 years or so the numbers caught by sporties seems to have decreased, reflecting the closer attention paid to such things by the farmers, as losing stock is not a good thing to have happen, particularly if you've been feeding them for some length of time.
Lots used to get caught on a few west coast streams near farms too, but I don't know how that situation is nowadays.

Take care.

 

[dohboy]

dave i agree , it was at least 10 yrs ago i caught mine, and besides that one yr i didnt hear of any others

 

[The Penguin]

here's what mystifies me:

If salmon go back to where they are born to spawn, why do farmed alantic salmon go up stream into the rivers anyway?
is it because they can smell the fresh water?

 

[Pablo2079]

Generally, salmon go back to their birth stream.... but if their stream is blocked or VERY low water, they will go elsewhere.

When Mt. St. Helens filled the Toutle River with mud, slamon and steelhead destined for that river just went up the Cowlitz instead. Also, I'm not sure if the homing instincts of the Atlantic salmon are as strong as the Pacific salmon.