Fry

Fry with a "food package" on their stomachs - so-called plum sack fry. Photo: Arnt Mollan

We call young salmon fry. The newly hatched ones have a yolk sac on their stomachs. We call these plum sac fry. The sac contains all the nutrition the little salmon need in the first weeks of their lives.

As long as the fry have the yolk sac, they don't need to catch food themselves. It stays down in the river gravel and can grow a little bigger and a little stronger before swimming out of the gravel to catch food.

Now the salmon fry begin to fight for food and space. They have to defend their hiding place and get enough food. The fry eat plankton that comes with the current, as well as insect larvae and other small animals from the river bed.

We call the young salmon fry the first year they are in the river.

Temperature determines

The time of hatching is determined by the temperature of the water, which varies between watercourses. Hatching is one of the most critical stages in the salmon's life cycle. Around 80% of the fry die during the first two months of life.

Eggs being hatched. Photo: Arnt Mollan