Nerka is coming. sockeye fish

The second name of sockeye salmon fish (nerka) is red or red salmon, red salmon. It belongs to the salmon family, although it is somewhat different from the usual representatives: for example, its meat is not pink, but deep red. Russian catches of sockeye salmon make up a significant part of the world catches: 31,000 tons out of 173,000.

Description of sockeye salmon

habitats

The fish is mainly distributed along the coast of the USA and Canada, but is also found in other points:

In Alaska: distributed from the Bering Strait to Northern California. The populations are quite numerous.
Near Kamchatka: most fish can be found in the Kamchatka and Ozernaya rivers, in the Dalnee, Azabachye and Kuril lakes, as well as on the western and eastern coasts.
In Chukotka: found in almost all water bodies, but least of all - on the Arctic coast and in the Amguema and Chegitun rivers.
On the Kuril Islands: more precisely, on the island of Iturup, in Lake Beautiful.
In the east of Sakhalin and in the north of the Sea of Okhotsk.

In some lakes, a self-reproducing form lives - kokanee. A dwarf form is also found - in the lakes of Japan (mainly in Hokkaido), in Kamchatka and North America.

reproduction

Spawning occurs from May to the end of July, but can start from the end of April and continue until November. The exact time depends on the specific location. In addition, on the last days a small amount of red-headed spawns - no more than a few dozen, in the middle of the same period, the number increases to millions.

The life cycle itself proceeds as follows:

Fry appear from eggs in the middle of winter in fresh lakes, until mid-March they spend time near the nest.
There they live for 2-3 years, but some go to sea in the same summer, when they grow up to 7-12 cm.
Sockeye salmon live in the sea for 1-4 years, preparing for spawning.
At the age of 5-6 years, they return to the lakes, overcoming a difficult path. When exposed to fresh water, a toxin is activated in the fish, which poisons it and prevents it from eating. Since that time, the main task of sockeye salmon is to get alive to the spawning place and lay eggs. At the same time, redheads do not just sail to the same lakes in which they were born, but also get directly to the place of "birth".
Fish choose keys with clean water and gravel at the bottom. The female digs nests in gravel and lays eggs there - up to 5 visits of 3-4 thousand eggs. When the eggs are laid, the males fertilize them, then the parents bury the eggs in pebbles, which results in a tubercle.
After spawning, the parents die. Their bodies decompose at the bottom of the lake and become a breeding ground for plankton, which the fry feed on. Thus, sockeye salmon live no more than 5-6 years.

Varieties

There are several types of redness:

Checkpoint (red sockeye salmon, red salmon, silverfish). The most famous species of interest to anglers. The name came from the "passage" of fish from one reservoir to another. This is a fish that goes to the sea for spawning, where it finds a mate. Sometimes it can become residential (settled) if there is enough food in the lake and there is no threat, that is, there is no need to swim away.
Residential lake form (kokanee). Smaller sockeye salmon reach a length of up to 30 cm and a weight of up to 700 grams). These are self-reproducing reds that do not change their habitat for spawning. Initially, they appeared in isolated freshwater lakes formed by a volcano, from which they could not get out. They breed in the same place where they were born, and migratory fish can act as a pair.

Appearance

The maximum length reaches 80 cm, the average length is 40 cm. The average weight is 1.5-3.5 kg, the heaviest individual caught weighed 7.7 kg. The shape of the sockeye salmon is elongated, angular, slightly compressed from the sides. The mouth is elongated, of medium size, the scales are rounded, tightly pressed to the body.

The color is silvery, the belly is white, the back has a blue or green tint. During the mating season, the scales “grow” into the body, the sockeye salmon turns red, only the head remains green, which is why it was called red (red). At the same time, males become brighter than females, although both sexes change. Paired fins are well developed, brown or black.

In general, the appearance of sockeye salmon resembles chum salmon, they can be distinguished by the number of gill rakers on the first gill arch: chum salmon have 18-28 of them, and sockeye salmon have more than 30.

Despite the behavior of a predator, red-haired does not eat everything in a row. Depending on age, sockeye salmon prefers:

Zooplankton - in "infancy" age.
Crustaceans and benthic invertebrates, mainly kalanid crustaceans at an older age. The latter are colored with the pigment carotene, which gives the red color to sockeye salmon meat.

The nutritional value

Krasnitsa has been known in cooking for a long time: it was used fresh or dried by the Native American Indians of British Columbia. Its meat is firm, bright orange, juicy, after cooking it becomes dense and fragrant. The taste characteristics of sockeye salmon are high: it resembles a crab.

Composition and useful properties

Krasnitsa has good nutritional characteristics.

Its composition:

calorie content - 157 calories per 100 grams;
protein - 20.3 grams;
fat - 8.4 grams (including healthy omega-3 fatty acids);
carbohydrates - no;
vitamins: A, B, C, K, E, PP, D;
useful substances: fluorine and phosphoric acids, potassium, chlorine, iron, chromium, zinc, magnesium and many others.

The benefits of sockeye salmon are great. Regular consumption of krasnitsa meat allows you to normalize the activity of digestion and the nervous system, regulate blood sugar.

Contraindications

Diseases of the duodenum.
Gastric ulcer.
Some diseases of the bloodstream.

How to choose

Today you can buy fish fresh, frozen, chilled or cooked (smoked). It is sold as a whole, without a head, in the form of boneless fillets or steaks.

Separately, it is worth noting the red caviar. There are 2 varieties:

Caviar of the first grade is more dense, has a uniform color and a pleasant smell without foreign impurities. A slightly bitter aftertaste and uneven color due to natural features are allowed. Some eggs may be broken. The salt content in such caviar is not more than 4-6%;
The second grade caviar is more salty (up to 8% salt), with a bitter or spicy aftertaste. The eggs are weaker and more viscous, often bursting.

It is important to remember that during spawning, fish release a toxin that poisons it: accumulating in meat and caviar, it can harm a person. However, this poison decomposes in the cold: for prevention, fish must be frozen at a temperature of -18 ° C for 5 days. You need to salt the caviar for 45 days.

How to cook sockeye salmon tasty? Stew, salt, fry, bake, dry, smoke, cook sockeye salmon grilled or sockeye salmon on charcoal - any sockeye salmon dish will turn out tasty and healthy.

The best sockeye salmon recipes

Balyk

One of the simplest recipes is sockeye salmon.

It is prepared simply:

A whole fish is cleaned and the head, fins, tail and entrails are removed, washed thoroughly.
The carcass is cut into 2 halves and the ridge with bones is removed.
Both halves are rubbed with coarse salt (80 grams per 1 kg of fish), put together and wrapped in a waffle towel, then tied with a rope.
For 5 days, the fish is cleaned in the refrigerator.
At the end of the term, the balyk is taken out and wiped with a damp cloth to remove excess salt. If desired, cuts are made in the meat and pieces of garlic are put in.
Next, you need to dry the meat. The carcass is suspended for 4 days, lubricated daily with vegetable oil to give a beautiful color.
When, when pressing on the meat, droplets of fat ooze out of it, the balyk is ready.

On the coals

It is easy to prepare in field conditions with a minimum number of ingredients. You will need the fish itself, salt, pepper, onions and lemon.

Cooking steps:

Fresh fish is cut into steaks no more than 1.5 cm thick and laid out in a deep bowl.
The onion is cut into half rings, mixed with salt and pepper, then lightly crushed to get the juice.
After the onion is transferred to the fish and mixed.
A third of the lemon is cut into pieces, also crushed and mixed with pieces of fish.
Leave to marinate for 15-20 minutes.
The finished pieces are laid out on a wire rack, pressed on top and baked for 10 minutes on each side. Periodically, the sides should be sprinkled with the juice of the remaining lemon.

Grilled

Another delicious and easy recipe that requires only a grill, a fish carcass, salt and pepper, vegetable oil and lemon for decoration.

Cooking steps:

First, the fillet is prepared: the head is cut off from the krasnitsa and cut lengthwise, the insides are removed, the meat is properly washed, wiped and the bones are removed.
The skin is smeared with vegetable oil, the fillet is salted and peppered.
The grill is heated to medium temperature. It is easy to check this: if the hand can be held for 3-4 seconds at a distance of 3 cm from the surface, then the grill is ready.
The fish is placed skin side down on the grill and covered with a lid.
It takes 10-15 minutes to prepare. Readiness is easy to check: the meat should easily move away from the skin.
Before serving, you can decorate the dish with a thin slice of lemon.

Sockeye salmon or red salmon is a medium-sized fish that lives in the lakes of Canada, in the north of the USA, on the shores of Kamchatka and Sakhalin. The fish has a pleasant taste and is easy to prepare; balyk or smoked meats are especially tasty from it. However, the meat of the redfish caught during spawning will contain poison - it must first be frozen.

Video

In this video you can see how the spawning of sockeye salmon in Kamchatka goes.

And here you can watch a unique underwater shooting of spawning.

Sockeye salmon meat has an excellent taste compared to other salmon fish. The vitamin and mineral composition is also impressive. Sockeye salmon contains a large amount of B vitamins, iodine, copper, magnesium, calcium and iron.

All these components have a powerful positive effect on the human body. Its regular use saturates the body with all the necessary elements, preventing the development of many diseases.

In our article, we will talk about the benefits and harms of sockeye salmon and its caviar, what is the calorie content per 100 grams of fresh, smoked (cold and hot smoked), slightly salted fish, and what are the beneficial properties of the product for the human body.

What is this fish and where does it live

The main places where you can find sockeye salmon are the coast of the USA and Canada. Its large number live in Alaska: from the Bering Strait to Northern California. There is a lot of it in the east and west of Kamchatka. Especially in such lakes as Dalnee, Azabachye, Kurilskoye and in the Kamchatka and Ozernaya rivers.

But the main habitat is the Kuril Islands. There are huge populations of sockeye salmon on the island of Iturup, in Lake Krasivoe. In Chukotka, it is found in almost all water bodies. It lives in the territory, which is located in the Kamchatka Territory, up to the Bering Strait. Rarely, it can be found in the Amguema and Chegitun rivers.

How to choose

In the distribution network, customers are offered smoked, chilled or frozen products. It can be purchased in the form of a carcass without a head, whole with a head, in the form of steaks and fillets.

If the fish is caught during spawning, the choice of product should be approached with great attention. During this period, it releases a special toxin, a large amount of which accumulates in meat and caviar.

It decomposes only at temperatures below 18 degrees for 5 days or when salted for 45 days. Therefore, it is recommended to buy sockeye salmon chilled or salted.

Do not buy frozen fish. Meat can accumulate a large amount of organochlorine compounds harmful to humans that retain moisture.

When choosing a product, look at the eyes. They should be transparent, not cloudy. The gills of sockeye salmon should be bright red or bright pink.

There should be no mucus on the carcass. Its presence indicates that the carcass is not the first freshness, the conditions for its storage were violated. There should be no unpleasant odor.

The calorie content and nutritional value of the product depend on the way it is processed.

The glycemic index for all types of processing is 0.

The composition contains fatty acids, vitamins of group B, A, C, E, D, PP, K. Meat is rich in macro- and microelements.

Features of influence on the body: benefits and harms

Due to the rich composition of meat and caviar, the use of sockeye salmon has a beneficial effect on the body. They are recommended for people of all age groups - from children to the elderly. It is allowed to use the product for pregnant women and nursing mothers.

What is useful for men and women

Potassium removes excess fluid from the body. This prevents puffiness. Potassium stabilizes the work of the heart and kidneys. Sulfur, phosphorus and chlorine help strengthen nails, hair and teeth. They have anti-aging properties, maintain the beauty of a person.

Selenium is a powerful antioxidant. It protects against the appearance of cancer cells, prevents the appearance of cancer. B vitamins regulate the proper functioning of the nervous and digestive systems.

Valuable properties for pregnant and lactating

The presence of folic acid in meat and caviar allows the fetus to form correctly in the first trimester of pregnancy, reduces the appearance of congenital pathologies, and has a positive effect on the formation of the nervous system in a child.

Eating fish during pregnancy normalizes metabolic processes helps to get rid of extra pounds.

When breastfeeding with milk, a lot of vitamins and minerals enter the baby's body.

The work of the digestive system improves in the child, the stool normalizes. The baby becomes calm, his appetite improves. The use of fish by a woman during lactation will avoid the appearance of rickets in a child.

For children

Children are recommended to introduce sockeye salmon into the diet from the age of 5. The product must be boiled. The presence of calcium, fluorine and phosphorus in meat contributes to the proper formation of the skeletal system. They are completely absorbed. The use of the product contributes to the proper functioning of the nervous system in children, their cognitive abilities increase, and brain activity improves.

Sockeye salmon has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, it is an excellent antioxidant.

For the elderly

Potassium, which is part of the product, has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the heart, reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

The use of fish is an excellent prophylactic in the fight against vascular diseases.

In old age, the level of cholesterol in the blood decreases.

Meat improves cerebral circulation, has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the nervous system.

Insomnia, depression disappear, mood swings decrease. Improving motor activity.

Special categories

Due to the large number of trace elements and protein, fish is shown to athletes. Its regular use gives vivacity, energy, increases muscle mass, makes the body more resilient to physical exertion.

Danger and contraindications

Salmon contains a large amount of fat Therefore, it must be taken with caution during exacerbation of gastritis and other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. It is excluded from the diet for ulcers. Meat is also contraindicated in diseases of the hematopoietic system.

About sockeye salmon in this video:

Use it with vegetables, potatoes, cereals. Adults are allowed to eat no more than 150-200 grams daily.

Elderly people should limit the intake of the product to 2-3 times a week. The daily dose should not exceed 100 grams.

Children can eat fish once a week. The daily norm is 70-100 grams.

Boiled and baked fish can be consumed at any time of the day. Balyk, fried or smoked - at lunchtime. Do not eat fatty foods in the evening.

Application in cooking

A high amount of fat allows you to cook a variety of dishes from sockeye salmon, delicacies - smoked meats and salmon. A steamed dish will have an excellent taste.

Meat can be used in the form of cold appetizers, in the preparation of salads, pies. A variety of sockeye salmon dishes will delight even the most sophisticated gourmet.

You can experiment with fish in the preparation of different dishes.

Popular and affordable recipes:

Salmon in the oven. This is a quick way to prepare a delicious meal. It will take 1 kg of fresh fillet.
It must be washed, salted, spices added, put on a baking sheet with vegetable oil. Bake for 10 minutes at a temperature of 180-200 degrees. While the fillet is cooking, prepare the sauce.
Grate 200 grams of cheese and mix it with beaten egg whites. Remove the fillet from the oven, pour sauce over it and bake again for 10 minutes.
Baking in the sleeve. Finely chop the onion, carrot, parsley and dill. Cut potatoes into small slices.
Mix the ingredients with salt, herbs and spices. Place everything in a baking dish.
Cut the fish and lay also in the sleeve. Bake the dish in the oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.

How else to cook sockeye salmon - video recipe:

You can use dishes from the product in the treatment of the following diseases:

For puffiness and problems with the kidneys, boil the fillet with the addition of potatoes, carrots and greens. The broth is consumed daily for a week, 50 grams three times a day.
Fish broth is useful for indigestion three times a day, 100 grams.
With diabetes, bake sockeye salmon meat in the oven and consume it 3 times a week, 100 grams each.

In cosmetology

You can use fish for skin rejuvenation. After fish masks, it will become elastic, velvety, small wrinkles will be smoothed out:

Boil the fillet and grind it. Add a tablespoon of high fat cream to the mixture. The composition is applied to the skin for 20 minutes, and then washed with warm water.
Grind the boiled fish and add the yolk and grated carrots to it. Apply the mass on the skin, hold for 15 minutes. Wash off with warm water.

Sockeye salmon meat - a storehouse of vitamins and microelements. Regular use of this product will be a preventive measure for diseases of the digestive and nervous systems.

It improves immunity, has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system, lowers blood sugar levels. Fish is recommended for children, the elderly, pregnant women and nursing mothers.

In contact with

Red salmon is a fish of the Pacific salmon family. The shores of eastern and western Kamchatka are distinguished by a particularly numerous population of sockeye salmon. Sockeye salmon is also common in Alaska, less common in eastern Sakhalin and in the northern part of the waters of the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk.

The length of representatives of this species can reach 80 cm, and the average weight is mainly 2-4 kg, the largest recorded individual weighed 7.7 kg. Sockeye salmon is very similar in size and shape to chum salmon, but differs from it in a large number of gill rakers.

As a spawning area, the sockeye salmon chooses those lakes in which springs emerge. A reservoir suitable for breeding sockeye salmon, this fish can not be found in every pool. For example, in Magadan, sockeye salmon enters only the Taui and Ola rivers, and even then in small quantities. There is quite a lot of sockeye salmon in some basins of the Kamchatka Peninsula, especially in the Okhota River. A significant population of this red fish also lives in the lakes of Chukotka and the Koryak highlands. In the Magadan region, amateur fishing for sockeye salmon is allowed only in the first half of the summer and only under licenses.

The sockeye salmon has a very strong natural instinct to reproduce, and for the most part the fish return to the same spawning place where they were born, this phenomenon in nature is called homing. Sockeye salmon starts to enter the rivers in May, earlier than other salmon and ends in July, sockeye salmon is divided into autumn and summer seasons. The first spawning occurs in rivers and lakes in July-August, the second - in August-October.

Usually, young sockeye salmon from one to three years fatten up in lakes, after which they slide into the sea, where they live for another 2-3 years and return to their native spawning grounds. It is rare to find river sockeye salmon, it spawns not in a lake, but in a backwater or a non-river reach.

Varieties of sockeye salmon

The most popular is the sockeye salmon, which is similar in shape and size to the chum salmon, and these two fish can be distinguished by the number of gill rakers located on the gill arch, there are 18-28 such stamens in the chum salmon, while sockeye salmon has at least 30. Fishermen know a special way to distinguish between chum salmon and sockeye salmon, freshly caught chum salmon can be lifted by the tail without much effort with one hand, which cannot be done with sockeye salmon, since its fin rays are so soft that the fish will surely slip out.

During the mating season, the sockeye salmon has a bright red color, except for the green head, which explains the other name of this fish - red.

Just like other salmon fish, chinook salmon and coho salmon, there are also small anadromous males of sockeye salmon called mushers. There are also dwarf males living in fresh waters that spawn with anadromous females.

In some lakes, for example, in Kronotsky Lake in Kamchatka, kokanee is found - the so-called residential form of sockeye salmon. This is a small fish no more than 30 cm in length, the females and males of which die after the first spawning. Interestingly, as a sport fishing trophy, as well as food for large predatory fish, it was introduced into reservoirs and lakes in western North America.

Taste qualities of sockeye salmon

The diet of sockeye salmon includes mainly fatty crustaceans - kalyanid, the color of which is bright red due to carotenoid pigments. It is from the crustaceans swallowed by sockeye salmon that these pigments pass into the fish meat, which is why it acquires such a bright red color, although salmon meat usually has pink meat, and not such a rich red color and excellent taste.

The meat of sockeye salmon is considered to be tastier than the meat of chum salmon and pink salmon, its taste is much richer than that of other representatives of salmon fish. The high fat content of sockeye salmon meat makes this fish an ideal raw material for the preparation of smoked meats, in particular excellent salmon. Sockeye salmon is very tasty steamed, and is also used to prepare cold appetizers and fish salads.

Useful composition of sockeye salmon

Sockeye salmon has a rich vitamin and mineral composition. It contains vitamins A, E, PP, D, B1, B2, B12, as well as important trace elements: iron, fluorine, zinc, chromium, molybdenum, nickel and macronutrients: magnesium, calcium, sodium, potassium, chlorine, phosphorus.

The calorie content of sockeye salmon is 157 kcal per 100 g of fish.

Useful properties of sockeye salmon

The benefits of fish for the health of the human body are indisputable, and it is not for nothing that the percentage of fish dishes in the menu of children's institutions is very high.

Sockeye salmon meat is useful for maintaining the health of the mucous membranes and skin, for the normal functioning of the digestive and nervous systems, it is an excellent antioxidant and helps regulate blood sugar.

A very important component of sockeye salmon meat is fluorine, as well as phosphoric acid, which is involved in the process of building numerous enzymes (phosphatases), which are the main engines of chemical reactions in cells. Phosphorus salts are part of the tissues of the human skeleton.

For all its usefulness, fatty varieties of fish, and sockeye salmon is one of those, are contraindicated in gastric and duodenal ulcers, as well as in certain blood diseases.

Sockeye salmon in cooking

Sockeye salmon is a truly unique dietary product. And if the meat of this fish is regularly included in the diet, it contributes to the normalization of metabolic processes in the body, restoring the balance of microelements and nutrients necessary for the coordinated work of all important life systems.

Sockeye salmon has not only unique meat of bright red color and excellent taste, but also a rich composition of vitamins and minerals necessary for the full functioning of the body.

Sockeye salmon can be cooked in a variety of ways, its fatty meat with moderate salting turns into a gourmet gastronomic product that has a special specific taste.

From the meat of sockeye salmon, both festive dishes and everyday dishes are excellent. And gourmets are happy to use sockeye salmon for cooking exotic dishes.

Sockeye salmon is more popular for its tasty meat than caviar. Although sockeye salmon caviar also has a rich red color, although the size of the eggs is relatively small. Due to the fact that the natural stocks of sockeye salmon have been noticeably reduced in recent years, red sockeye caviar is rarely found on sale.

Romanchukevich Tatiana
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Sockeye salmon is one of the most famous species of Pacific salmon, also called red fish for its unusually bright color. Sockeye salmon belongs to one of the most valuable varieties of fish, but it can surprise not only with its culinary advantages - its biology is no less interesting. The closest relatives of red fish are chum salmon, chinook salmon, coho salmon, sim and pink salmon, and more distant are real salmon.

Sockeye salmon, or red fish (Oncorhynchus nerka) during spawning: male on the left, female on the right.

Adult sockeye salmon live in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean: from the Bering Strait in the north to the latitude of California in the south. They prefer cooler areas of the ocean than other types of salmon.

Adult sockeye salmon in oceanic attire.

Fish of oceanic populations can reach a maximum length of 80 cm. Their body is moderately elongated, cylindrical in cross section, with medium-sized fins. It is covered with small, but clearly visible scales. Adults have no teeth. The coloring of the sockeye is white with a dark gray back, and there is not the slightest hint of a red tint in it! If anything reminds of the popular name of sockeye salmon, it is its meat. It has the brightest color among all types of salmon: not orange-pink, but rich scarlet. The secret of this coloration lies in the diet of fish. Adult sockeye salmon feed mainly on crustaceans, especially often eating fatty kalyanid crustaceans. The red pigment kalyanid accumulates in the muscles of the fish, coloring them.

Salmon fillet.

Ocean flocks of sockeye are not too conspicuous, but everything changes with the advent of spring. During this period, they move to the coasts of Alaska, British Columbia, Chukotka, Kamchatka, the Kuril and Commander Islands, where they enter large rivers in May-June. During the journey, the appearance of the fish changes beyond recognition. Their skin becomes so rough that the scales seem to sink into it and become invisible, so sexually mature red fish seem smooth-skinned. The jaws of males are curved, and representatives of both sexes acquire rather large teeth. During this period of life, the curved jaws of males from females can be distinguished unmistakably.

A male (right) and female (center and left) sockeye salmon move towards a spawning ground in Kuril Lake, accompanied by a flock of golomyankas. On the body of one of the fish, a wound is visible, probably left by the claws of a bear.

The color changes the most: usually the body of the sockeye is painted in an intense red color, and the head, pectoral and caudal fins are olive green.

A flock of red fish is visible in clear water from afar.

Variations are also possible, when black dots are mixed with red or the back becomes olive green.

This flock of red fish stands out among relatives with a darker color.

The spawning course of sockeye salmon is one of the most impressive wildlife phenomena! Even now, when commercial stocks have decreased, schools of many thousands of sockeye salmon are clearly visible when moving against the current, and in the past there were so many red fish that they literally filled the rivers during the course, propping up the banks.

School of red fish in the Adams River (British Columbia, Canada).

When traveling to spawning grounds, these fish overcome strong currents, almost crawl along pebbly shoals, jump over rapids up to 1 m high.

In the Adams River, as well as in other spawning grounds, sockeye salmon accumulate in shallow areas with a pebbly bottom.

But along the way, predators lie in wait for them. Every autumn, in anticipation of the movement of red fish, brown bears are drawn to the banks of the rivers. Before hibernation, these large mammals must accumulate sufficient reserves of fat, and sockeye meat and red caviar are the best for this. Bears concentrate on the shallows and near the rapids - where the fish slow down and jump out of the water in front of an obstacle.

A brown bear creeps up to a flock of sockeye salmon, examining fish underwater. The next movement will be a sharp throw - and prey in his teeth.

Old animals so skillfully catch sockeye salmon that they become picky from excess food: they eat away only muscles and caviar. The rest of the meal goes to seagulls, eagles, crows, wolves, arctic foxes, foxes. Thus, red fish is the most important component of the food chains of the North.

The red fox got a gnawed red fish - the meat in this carcass is enough for one more dinner.

As a rule, sockeye salmon enter the rivers flowing from lakes and reach the very source.

Females dig holes with powerful movements of the tail and throw large red caviar into them, and males water it with milk.

Spawning usually lasts until the end of summer, but in some regions it can be delayed until December.

The eggs are laid out one at a time, they are not sticky, so they lie freely on the bottom.

To prevent future offspring from being carried away by a strong current (and sockeye salmon love flowing areas), fish cover their eggs with pebbles, as a result of which a mound is formed above the spawning pit. Efforts to procreate so exhaust the parents that after spawning they die, often right next to the spawning mound.

By winter, the rivers, reddened from live fish, become literally black from the multitude of decomposing bodies (Kronotsky Reserve, Kamchatka, Russia).

The fry emerge from the eggs by the middle of winter and remain in the spawning mounds until March. In the future, their fate develops in different ways. An insignificant part of young fish slides into the seas by the summer, but more often they stay in rivers up to 2, less often - up to 3 years. There are also individuals that reach sexual maturity by 5-6 years, without leaving fresh water at all. The living form of red fish is much smaller than the anadromous one, since it is deprived of the opportunity to feed on high-calorie oceanic crustaceans.

Sockeye fry next to the caviar, through the shell of which the eye of another red fish shines through.

A distinctive feature of red fish is that in this species, even single individuals do not survive after spawning, as is the case with real salmon. This makes sockeye salmon quite vulnerable to factors affecting breeding. Serious damage to the world population of sockeye is caused by industrial and poaching fishing for spawning individuals. And recently, a new problem has been added to it - an increase in water temperature. Due to global warming, the rivers normally used for spawning have been warming up more and more in recent years. Warm water has a depressing effect on the spawning behavior of fish, increases their susceptibility to diseases, is unfavorable for the development of eggs, and this inexorably reduces the number of the species as a whole.

Partially solving the problem helps artificial fish breeding with the subsequent release of grown fry into the rivers. Fish farmers in the USA, Japan, Canada have gone even further: in a number of reservoirs they grow a residential form of sockeye salmon, thereby closing the biological cycle without a stingray into the sea. Although the mass of living fish does not exceed 700 g, this disadvantage is compensated by the fact that licensed amateur fishing is allowed for them. Fish caught with one's own hand not only gives pleasure to fishermen, but also extinguishes any poaching instincts.

Processing red caviar at home: before salting, it is freed from films by rubbing through a sieve.

Sockeye salmon is a fish that belongs to the salmon family, to the genus of salmon and lives exclusively in the Pacific basin. This is a particularly valuable commercial fish species, which is of interest to both fishing enthusiasts and professionals.

Description of sockeye salmon

Sockeye salmon is an anadromous fish. While she is young and lives in freshwater rivers, she has a gray-golden color. With age, she begins to blush. This is due to the fact that she feeds mainly on crustaceans containing carotene. When going to the sea, it becomes more red. This is not the largest fish among salmon, but nevertheless, it is considered one of the most delicious.

Appearance

In appearance, sockeye salmon is similar to chum salmon, so inexperienced people often confuse them. They differ in the number of gill rakers, sockeye salmon has more of them. The body of the sockeye salmon has an angular outline and is slightly compressed from the sides, the head is cone-shaped. The length of the fish is from 50 to 80 cm. Males are larger and brighter than females. The average weight is 3.5-5 kg. The maximum dimensions of sockeye salmon that have been recorded are 110 cm, and the weight is 7.5 kg.

This is interesting! In general, the weight and size of sockeye salmon depends on the reservoir where the fish came from.

Like most salmon species, sockeye salmon has a slightly reddish color, which becomes more intense during the mating season. Therefore, the color of such fish largely depends on habitats and food.

Fish Behavior

Sockeye salmon, like all salmon breeds, belongs to migratory fish species. This fish is born in lakes, sometimes in the upper reaches of rivers. After spending a certain period of life in the spawning grounds and having matured a little, and getting stronger, the juveniles of the sockeye salmon begin to slowly move to the mouths of the rivers. There, a 2-year-old sockeye salmon gathers in small flocks, after which it goes to the open sea to gain weight.

Packing is an important safety feature, as it greatly increases the chance of survival in a dangerous marine environment. Before straying into packs, she leads a secretive lifestyle. In the sea, sockeye salmon lives and grows up to 4 years of age, and upon reaching puberty, which occurs at 4-5 years of age, sockeye salmon begins to move in the opposite direction to the river and moves to spawning grounds.

This is interesting! Sockeye salmon is one of those fish species that have an extremely strong instinct at home - the fish always returns not just to its native reservoir where it was born, but directly to the exact place of its birth. After the sockeye salmon marks its eggs, it dies.

Lifespan

The lifespan of sockeye salmon depends on when it spawns.. This usually occurs at 4-6 years of age. Many dangers await her on the way: these are sharp stones, on the edges of which you can get fatal injuries and numerous predators, for which the fish becomes easy prey.

After the sockeye salmon fulfills its natural duty, it dies. So, under the most ideal conditions, the life expectancy of this fish leaves 5-6 years. Sockeye salmon species that are bred in captivity live longer, up to 7-8 years. This is due to the fact that there they have no natural enemies and food in abundance.

Types of sockeye salmon

There are several types of sockeye. Some of them don't go to the ocean at all. They spend their entire lives in the same pond. The number of caviar clutches they have can be 3-5 in a lifetime. Passing, the most famous variety of this fish is also called Krasnitsa, or red sockeye salmon.

Also isolated is also a residential lake form, which is called kokanee, this is a self-reproducing species of sockeye salmon. A dwarf residential form of sockeye salmon found in the lakes of Kamchatka, North America and Japan. She does not go to the sea, and her reproduction occurs simultaneously with the red-haired, with her dwarf individuals share the spawning grounds.

This is interesting! Sockeye salmon passes from migratory to residential form, provided that there is enough food in the lake for permanent residence in its waters.

All types of sockeye salmon are important in the food chain for the inhabitants of those places. Only red sockeye has commercial value for humans. The remaining species are of interest mainly to fishing enthusiasts.

Range, habitats

Red sockeye salmon is most widespread off the coast of Alaska. Numerous populations are also found near the Bering Strait to Northern California, much less often it can be found on the Arctic side off the coast of Canada and the Commander Islands.

On the territory of Russia, this fish is found in Kamchatka, on the western and eastern coasts. In the area of the Kuril Islands, there is especially a lot of sockeye salmon in the waters of Iturup Island. In Chukotka, sockeye salmon is common in almost all water bodies. In the waters of the Japanese island of Hokkaido, the dwarf form of this species is widespread.

Diet, food

Sockeye salmon is an omnivorous fish with pronounced predatory behavior. The fry feed on zooplankton. Adult sockeye salmon is a rather voracious fish, the main part of its diet is small crustaceans, mollusks and fish. They can also use insects as food. This is a rather fatty, high-calorie food and the fish quickly reaches large sizes. Sockeye salmon is distinguished by extraordinary endurance and can go without food for a long time. Her whole strategy is based on spending a minimum of effort when hunting.

Reproduction of sockeye salmon

After the sockeye salmon reaches puberty, it is ready for procreation. She begins to go to her native places in May, and this period lasts from 2 to 3 months. Individuals are divided into pairs, and then they look for a place that is suitable for arranging a nest. The built nest has the shape of an oval with a small depression up to 15–30 centimeters.

This is enough to protect the eggs from lovers of easy prey. At such a depth, the bear will not smell the smell of caviar, and the birds will not be able to get it. Caviar of female sockeye salmon is bright red, the average number of caviar is 3000 eggs. The fry are born after 7-8 months. Most often this happens towards the end of winter.

Some of the eggs are washed out and carried away with the current, some of them manage to reach the sea. Of those fry that managed to be born, not all survive to adulthood.

This is interesting! During the spring and summer, the fry gain weight and go to the sea, where they build up a lot. After 4-6 years, everything repeats again.