November

Salmon roe and rowan berries

In some rivers in the south, spawning still takes place in November, but in many rivers peace has now descended. The roe lies under a protective gravel dune, where it will remain until it hatches next spring.

Have you ever wondered why we call fish eggs roe? Rogn is an old name that comes from the Norse word reynir. It is related to the color red. Roe berries are very similar to salmon roe, both in shape and color. There must be a connection. But what got the name first - the tree with the red berry clusters or the salmon eggs - is hard to say.

A female salmon lays approximately 1,450 eggs per kilo of body weight. This means that a female salmon weighing 5 kg lays around 7,000 eggs. Only a few of these eggs grow into adult salmon. The rule of thumb is that there are only two young salmon out of every 100 eggs. And out of 100 smolts that go on a nutrient migration in the sea, only two to five return as adult salmon.

Roe can lack oxygen and die, and they can be dried up and eaten by other fish or birds. For example, the water boatman is fond of roe. Young salmon are also at risk of drying out and being eaten. Fishing ducks, for example, can provide themselves with plenty of food. There is plenty of food in the sea, but there are also many who like to eat smolt and larger salmon. Post-smolt - as we call smolt when they have been released into salt water - are the most vulnerable and are eaten by cod, pollack, saithe, cormorants, seagulls and salmon and herring ducks. Larger salmon are taken by sharks and tuna, as well as larger marine mammals such as whales and seals. And not least by us humans. We know that fewer salmon survive their stay in the sea than before. One of the reasons is an abnormally high level of salmon lice from fish farms, but we don't know the full picture.

Either the roe becomes baby salmon or a delicacy.