– We expect that we will have low survival of these crossings. Now we have crossed humpback salmon with Atlantic salmon, rainbow aure, char and aure, says Monica F. Solberg, genetics researcher at the Institute of Marine Research. The offspring will probably not be able to reproduce afterwards. She says that they have not observed these species hybrids in the wild, and they expect that the risk of this is low. It is nevertheless reasonable to confirm that it does not happen. Humpback salmon The humpback salmon we find in Norway is a result of Russian stocking in the 1960s. It is today most numerous in northern Norway, and is considered an invasive species. The large shoals can displace and disturb local species of salmon, aure and char. Humpback salmon die after spawning, and many thousands of dead humpback salmon in the river can affect the entire ecosystem due to bacteria, fungi, nutrient supply, etc. Source: State Administrator in Troms and Finnmark Ifølgje Solberg, they are most successful in fertilizing eggs from humpback salmon. – We have mainly used humpback salmon eggs, and then they have been fertilized with milk from both rainbow trout, char and acorns. We would like to do similar crossings where we use eggs from local salmon and fertilize them with milk from humpback salmon. Researchers now want to cross wild salmon (pictured) with the unwanted humpback salmon. Photo: Marte Rommetveit / news – The literature shows that this method can give somewhat higher survival, even if survival is still very low. There is no evidence that there are offspring that can reproduce, nor has it been observed in nature, she says. Catastrophe Øystein Hansen is a member of the Sør-Varanger hunting and fishing association and project manager for the extraction of humpback salmon in three rivers in the area. He says the crossing is fine as long as the research confirms that they cannot cross. Øystein Hansen in the Sør-Varanger hunting and fishing association does not want a new unwanted species in the river. Here he is holding a humpback salmon. Photo: Ksenia Novikova / news – There must be very clear rules that this is what you are looking for, and not trying to get even one unwanted species. I would think that would be a disaster. He has seen no signs that the species have crossed in the wild. – We haven’t found anything, neither a hybrid nor anything else, and we have continued for six to eight years with this type of fishing. We hope for the sake of the river and the environment that no hybrids emerge. Answer during the autumn Fisheries manager at the State Governor in Troms and Finnmark, Eirik Frøyland, welcomes all research into the problem with humpback salmon. – One has succeeded in crossing humpback salmon and common Atlantic salmon in laboratory conditions. It produces only sterile offspring, as expected. In nature, it has not been observed that crossing takes place and that hybrids occur. That is not what we are most concerned about when it comes to humpback salmon in our rivers. The crossings carried out by the Norwegian Marine Research Institute were produced in mid-August, when humpback salmon usually spawn. – We expect to get results during the autumn. If it turns out that we will not get any survival, then we will get results earlier than if they survive until hatching. We expect to see hatching sometime in October or November, says Monica F. Solberg.
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Researcher on crossing humpback and wild salmon: – There must be very clear rules – news Troms and Finnmark
