Norway puts USD 4 million towards fighting threats to wild salmon

The Norwegian government has allocated NOK 28 million (USD 2.6 million; EUR 2.4 million) towards stopping the spread of humpback salmon, and NOK 22 million (USD 2 million; EUR 1.9 million) towards treating Norwegian rivers for the Gyrodactylus salaris parasie.Both the invasive salmon and the parasite pose a significant threat to Norway’s dwindling wild salmon population. “The government’s goal is to limit the spread of humpback salmon as much as possible,” Climate and Environment Minister Tore O. Sandvik said in a press release.Humpback salmon (also known as pink salmon) are native to the Pacific, but were introduced to Russia’s Kola Peninsula starting in the 1950s in an attempt to begin a salmon fishery. The hardiest variety of humpback salmon introduced there has now spread into Norwegian rivers, where it has outcompeted the local salmon population and introduced disease that threatens salmon, Arctic char, and sea trout fisheries. Last year, 249,496 humpback salmon were removed ...