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Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish of the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the family are called trout. Salmon live in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as the Great Lakes and other land locked lakes. Typically, salmon are anadromous: they are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean, then return to fresh water to reproduce.

Salmon population levels are of concern in the Atlantic and in some parts of the Pacific but in northern British Columbia and Alaska stocks are still abundant. Many wild Salmon stocks have seen a marked decline in recent decades, especially north Atlantic populations which spawn in western European waters, and wild salmon of the Snake River system in the Northwest USA. Salmon aquaculture is the major economic contributor to the world production of farmed fin-fish, representing over $1 billion US annually.

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