Salmon
Fish out of Water animation
Salmon
Salmon undertake impressive migrations, spending years in the ocean before returning to their natal rivers. These migrations, often spanning thousands of miles, are crucial for their survival. The animation Fish Out Of Water is a story of migration. The fish follows the path 2.2 million migrants took between 1836 and 1914 between Europe and America. Each still is taken on paths, parks and roads traversed by transmigrants through Hull , then on to Liverpool. The final fish is on the steps of The Senate in New York where Democrat Cory Booker recently completed a 25 hour speech, an important part of which was a criticism of current US migration policy. Layla Jabbari, migrated to the UK as a child and she interviews her dad here talking about his experience of migrating to the UK.
Thank you to Mohsen Jabbari, Jill Jabbari, Bill and Judith Ewen, Madison Fisk, Vedika Krishna, Sheetu Batra and Barbara DiLorenzo for all the help in putting this together.
Artist: Layla Jabbari
Fish Profile
Atlantic Salmon - Salmo salar
Conservation status
Salmon is the most popular fish consumed in the UK.
Atlantic Salmon is listed on the IUCN red list as Near Threatened. They report that there are ‘a multitude of threats to the species which have led to reported declines in the global population size over the last three generations,’ (IUCN). Salmon are also on the Greenpeace Red List.
MCS advise consumers to ‘think before they buy’. They particularly advise against buying Wild Atlantic Salmon as stocks are ‘dangerously’ low. They say most Salmon sold in the UK are fish farmed.
Fish farming has its own issues. There are concerns around the large number of wild fish used to feed farmed salmon as well as the conditions some farms keep them in.
The Wildfish Organisation campaigns against open-net salmon farming: ‘poorly run and badly sited open-net salmon farms put wild Salmon at risk from parasites and diseases. Farmed fish that escape these open-net pens threaten the genetic integrity of wild Salmon and further compromise their future survival.’