Salmon has been an important part of the human diet since prehistoric times, as attested by prehistoric paintings in France and North America. The name Salmo was introduced for the first time by Pliny the Elder in his Historia Naturalis, written in the 1st Century AD.

Wild salmon are very important to many different people in North America. Native Americans in the United States and First Nations peoples of Canada have relied upon salmon for thousands of years and continue to actively participate in subsistence, and sometimes commercial, fisheries. For well over a century, the commercial wild salmon industry has provided a living—and a way of life—to fishermen, processors and coastal communities from California to Alaska.

Sport fishermen are passionate about sport fishing for salmon, and sport fishing has become a big business for many coastal communities. The general public— including those who do not fish for salmon—are stirred by the annual return of the salmon and derive value simply from the fact that these salmon continue to be found in our rivers. All of these stakeholders wish for sustainable wild salmon fisheries.

Commercial wild salmon fisheries are economically very important. The value of Alaska salmon catches exceeded $300 million in 2005, and the wholesale value of salmon products derived from these catches exceeded $500 million. The value of U.S. exports of salmon products was $694 million in 2005, which is almost entirely made up of products derived from wildcaught salmon. These exports accounted for 18 percent of the value of total U.S. seafood exports.

Because of wild salmon’s importance as a commercial fishery in North America, many questions and concerns have been raised around the issue of farmed versus wild salmon in recent years. Concerns have been related to the impact of the tremendous growth in farmed salmon production on the markets for wild salmon, and in turn, the economic incentives for ensuring sustainability of the wild resource and the salmon fishing industry.

Commercial salmon farming began in the 1970s. During the 1980s and 1990s, commercial salmon farming was well established in many temperate countries around the world including Norway, Scotland, Chile and Canada. By 1996, salmon farming production surpassed worldwide wild salmon catches. By 2002, global production of farmed salmon exceeded wild harvests by more than one million metric tons.

Many factors have contributed to the success of salmon aquaculture operations worldwide: relatively inexpensive and easily replicated technology, widely available sites with ideal environmental and topographical conditions, favorable culture traits of Atlantic salmon, increases in production efficiency and growing market demand for salmon.

As farmed salmon production has grown, prices for all salmon—farmed and wild—have fallen. The lower prices have created problems for the industries and communities associated with both wild and farmed salmon production. Farmers have managed to reduce production costs, and develop new products and markets, but the traditional wild salmon sector has been slower to adjust. Restructuring is ongoing in both the wild and the fish farming industries, with some fishermen, processing firms and fish farms shutting down or going bankrupt.

The primary economic impact of increased farmed salmon production on wild salmon markets has been lower prices. Recent increases in prices during 2005 for the premium species of wild salmon - chinook and coho – may lead some to believe that the downward trend in wild salmon prices are being reversed.

Chinook and coho prices did rebound during 2004 and 2005, however, these species comprise only 6 percent of total Alaska catch volume. Prices for the largest proportion of salmon catches—sockeye, pink and chum salmon—have not. This report will show that farmed salmon are not the only reason for the decline in wild salmon prices.

Visit The Great Salmon Run: Competition Between Wild And Farmed Salmon Download Page

Ch 1. Introduction
Ch 2. North American Wild Salmon Resources
Ch 3. North American Wild Salmon Fisheries
Ch 4. The Role of Hatcheries in North American Wild Salmon
Ch 5. The World Salmon Farming Industry
Ch 6. Overview of World Salmon Markets
Ch 7. Products and Markets for North American Wild Salmon
Ch 8. Overview of U.S. Salmon Consumption
Ch 9. North American Salmon Trade
Ch 10. The U.S. Salmon Distribution System
Ch 11. Overview of U.S. Salmon Consumers
Ch 12. Overview of North American Salmon Marketing
Ch 13. Effects of Farmed Salmon on Prices of Wild Salmon
Ch 14. Economic and Social Effects of Changes in Wild Salmon Markets
Ch 15. Overview of Salmon Trade Policy Issues
Ch 16. Analysis of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Certification of Alaska Salmon
Ch 17. Seafood Labeling Programs and Potential Implications for North American Salmon
Ch 18. The Future of Salmon Aquaculture in North America
Ch 19. Effects of Salmon Farming on North American Wild Salmon Resources
Ch 20. Outlook for the Future and Recommendations
Appendix A. Major Data Sources
Appendix B. Methodology for Analysis of Major World Salmon Markets
Appendix C. Methodology for Estimation of United States Salmon Consumption

TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, works to ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature. It has offices covering most parts of the world and works in close co-operation with the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

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