Using pink salmon efficiently, sustainably and profitably

Background

Pink salmon, also known as humpback salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), is a highly adaptable species with great reproductive potential. It is native to the North Pacific Ocean 

In Norway, pink salmon is regarded as an invasive species and measures are being taken to combat it. In other parts of the world, such as Alaska, Canada and Russia, it is a valuable, sought after food resource.

Globally, pink salmon is generally caught using purse seine nets (Alaska), beach seine nets, fixed nets, drift nets, various fishing traps (Russia) and, in game fishing, by rod from land and trolling from boats.

In Norway, pink salmon are caught as bycatch when fishing for ordinary sea salmon and when carrying out fishing designed to decimate or eradicate the population of a species in rivers.

Wedge nets are the nets most commonly used in Norway’s ordinary marine salmon fishery. Previous research shows that ordinary wedge nets are not suitable for catching pink salmon due to the resulting high mortality. Unlike wedge nets and drift nets, beach seine nets are so finely meshed that fish do not get stuck in them and they are used when you want to, for example, tag fish for research purposes. 

 A number of industrial companies processed pink salmon in 2023. These were mainly caught by fishing intended to eliminate the fish from rivers in Finnmark. The results have been positive, although there is a need to develop and improve more processes in the value chain from catch to market.  

In many places, fish are caught using fish traps. The different infrastructure available in these places affects the opportunities for controlled slaughter, cooling and onwards transport to production facilities. 

According to feedback from the industry and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, the methods used to catch the salmon are relatively efficient, although there are major challenges in relation to the quality and food safety of the fish that will be processed for human consumption. The fish are rarely slaughtered in a good controlled manner, and a good proportion of the fish are also not cut and bled, properly stored (open containers) or cooled (no ice) while waiting for onward transport to reception facilities. The fish can be exposed to high temperatures for many hours before they arrive at reception facilities. 

Potentially, the total volume of pink salmon caught in 2023 could provide approximately 2 million meals (around 200 grams of fish per person). The fish’s roe and other rest raw materials are also highly valued.

Goal

Develop new knowledge and solutions that contribute to the efficient, sustainable and profitable utilisation of pink salmon. 

Secondary goals:

• Develop knowledge and practical solutions for various fishing locations that can be approved by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority for slaughter, cooling and logistics solutions.
• Develop methods that optimise fishing with nets in estuaries.
• Develop best practices for the processing and production of roe.

What we are doing

• In Work Package 1, led by Scientist Jenny Jensen in Akvaplan NIVA, a new beach seine net, specially designed for pink salmon, will be produced and tested. The criterion is that the net must move easily through the water in suitable areas in estuaries and the sea and be able to be handled both from the shore along an estuary and from boats in the sea outside an estuary. The net has been developed by Inge Arne Eriksen, who has extensive experience in the use and development of beach seine nets in Finnmark. In 2024, the net will be constructed, tested and optimised before the 2025 season and pink salmon fishing starts. 
• In Work Package 2, led by Nofima, we will survey the available knowledge in order to optimise catch management and the logistics surrounding slaughter, intermediate storage and transport to reception facilities. Important elements of the work include collating experiences and knowledge from both the fishing industry and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority in order to establish criteria and logistical solutions that can ensure both the quality and food safety of the pink salmon that will be slaughtered and processed for human consumption. 
• In Work Package 3, led by Nofima, we will map the available knowledge in order to preserve and optimise the quality of roe from pink salmon, and look at the total utilisation of the fish by leveraging biomass unsuitable for human consumption for silage.