There are two groups of salmon. One group is known as the Atlantic salmon. They live in the North Atlantic Ocean located between North America and Europe. It travels up rivers that meet the sea on these two continents. The second group of salmon consists of five species of the Pacific salmon and is known to live in the North Pacific Ocean. They can be found residing in the ocean and rivers of the western North America and Eastern Asia. Some salmon also live in lakes. In fact, many reside in Michigan’s Great Lakes.

Salmon are anadromous fish which means that they spend most of their lives in freshwater and part of their lives in the saltwater of the ocean. Salmon hatch in streams and rivers and then swim out into the ocean where they eat and grow. When they mature and are ready to reproduce they swim back to the river or stream where they were born to lay their eggs.

Salmon eggs are safe to be eaten as long as you are not eating the type that has been processed into fish bait.

Fish eggs such as those from salmon however can be easily and safely processed into caviar and are safe to eat. For high quality products the egg sacs should be carefully removed from the fish at the place of catch, put into plastic bags and then packed into ice.

Caviar can be made from the eggs of a number of fish, salmon just being one of the few. It can also be made from the eggs of mullet, herring, sturgeon, steelhead, striped bass and shad. However, it should also be noted that the eggs of Cabazon are poisonous and should never be eaten.

When eating caviar a few rules one should follow to ensure that food-borne illness, etc. does not occur are as follows:

• Always use fresh eggs that are less than 24 hours old. A heavy oily aroma is natural, however if any other odor of spoilage is present these eggs should be disposed of and not used for caviar.
• Gently remove individual eggs from the sacs (skein) and place them into a bowl. You will most likely get about 1-1/2 cups of eggs from a ½ pound skein. As you pick out the eggs, remove and discard the pieces of membrane, blood and its of intestine and black skin.
• For each 1 or 2 cups of cleaned eggs, add ½ cup of salt to 2 cups cold water in a large bowl and then stir until salt is dissolved.
• Pour eggs into brine. Swirl the eggs and let them stand for 30 minutes to become firm and absorb the salt. Remove any membrane pieces that you find.
• Pour caviar into a strainer and rinse in cold water then drain. Pick out any remaining membrane pieces.
• Caviar should always be stored in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator and can be kept for several weeks or as long as the flavor remains pleasant.
• Serve caviar chilled. Nest the serving bowl in a larger bowl of crushed ice. Some even prefer to serve with un-salted crackers or toast spread with sweet butter or sour cream.

Salmon eggs that are processed into fish bait are NOT edible and must only always be used as fish bait! Depending on the stage of maturity, salmon eggs may be in “loose” or “tight” skeins when taken from the fish. Eggs in loose skeins have reached the stage where they can be readily separated from the membrane without any special treatment. They are great for being preserved as single salmon eggs. Eggs in tight skeins can be used in preparation for making cluster egg baits.

Fish bait can either be made from fresh or frozen salmon eggs. Fast freezing at -10 degrees to -30 degrees Fahrenheit is crucial for maintaining the original appearance, texture and odor of the eggs. To package them for freezing one can wrap them doubled up in plastic freezer wrap or even seal them in plastic bags which help to exclude any air. If salmon eggs are exposed to air during the frozen stage, dehydration and oxidation has been found to change their color, consistency, odor, and even makes them unfit to be used as bait. Thawing eggs at room temperature before processing them into bait is best.

To preserve eggs clusters many fisherman have been known to commonly use powdered borax to toughen them up and preserve their appearance. Doing so also helps prevent the growth of bacteria. These toughened clusters stay on the hook longer than fresh ones. Preparing eggs with borax is a simple process that takes very little time.

The first step one must take is to spread out a large sheet of paper and cover it with a thin layer or Borax powder. Then either cut the skeins of the eggs into bait sized pieces with a pair of scissors or use your hands to pull them apart along the natural connective tissue cleavage lines. Place the eggs clusters onto the borax covered paper and thoroughly dust them with additional borax powder. Afterwards let them stand in a cool, dry place for 12 to 36 hours. After the egg clusters have reached desired firmness, pack them in a wide-mouth jar that is equipped with airtight seals for storage. This cluster of eggs can be used as bait and refrigerated for a few weeks. It can also be frozen in jars for longer storage times.

Fishermen in all parts of the country have been known to also use single salmon eggs for bait. This process takes little time and effort and the only requirements are reasonably large salmon eggs and the proper care before preparing.

The first step in preserving single eggs is to separate them from their membranes by immersing them in water at a temperature of 115 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit and then manipulating the egg mass by hand. The membrane coagulates at this temperature making the eggs easier to separate without causing much damage.

Some materials need to prepare single salmon eggs include

• Preservative bath: 1 part commercial (40 percent) formalin (available at most drug stores) to 20 parts water at about 90° F.
• Dye (if red eggs are desired): 1/4 teaspoon of powdered Safranin-O (available at many drug stores) dissolved in 2 quarts of water.
• Neutralizing-fixing bath: 8 tablespoons of sodium bisulfate (available from photo supply stores and some drug stores) dissolved in 1 gallon of water at 60°F.
• Glycerin: add 6 drops 40 percent formalin per ounce of glycerin.
• Fish-attracting flavors: flavors, such as anise, may be added to glycerin

One can then immerse single eggs in the preservative bath for 30 to 45 minutes. Processing times can vary depending upon the characteristics of the egg. Processing small batches until you obtain the correct treatment for the eggs is a good rule of thumb to follow during this process. Removing single eggs from the formalin solution while they are still soft but have no trace of liquid center when sliced in half is also best. The fixing and glycerin treatments will have an additional firming effect upon the eggs. It should be noted that eggs left in the bath for too long will become rubbery and undesirable for bait.

To dye your eggs you can dip them in the dye solution for a few minutes. It is thought that brighter colored eggs have a better chance of attracting fish. The degree of redness depends on the strength of the dye solution and the length of time they are immersed for. When the eggs reach the desired color range, rinse them with water.

The next step is to immerse the eggs in the neutralizing-fixing bath for 20 to 30 minutes. This is done to neutralize any further action of the formalin and also prevents undue hardening of the eggs from taking place later during storage.

Lastly, drained and place the eggs in a screw-cap jar for storage. Do not rinse the eggs or allow the surface of the eggs to dry before sealing them. Make sure that you pour enough glycerin mixture into the jar to moisten them but also taking care not to cause a noticeable accumulation at the bottom of the jar. Eggs treated this way can be kept for a few weeks in a warm room and may also be stored for over a year in a refrigerator.

Nearly every fish or other type of critter that can be found in the sea is edible. However not every type is edible raw. Raw fish has been popular in the West for some time and sushi and sashimi have been a part of Japanese cuisine for centuries. Just a few of the classic raw fish that you may find in a sushi bar include: tuna, salmon, clams, scallops, abalone, yellowtail, halibut, flounder, squid, gizzard shad, mackerel, sea bass, porgies and snapper.

Salmon is a favorite choice for many who choose to eat raw fish. However, unless that salmon has been frozen first it would be wise to pass on eating it. This is because a tiny tapeworm larva has often been known to lurk in the raw salmon flesh. It resides in this flesh waiting for someone to eat it o that it can take up residence in the digestive tract. Diphyllobothrium latum, carried by freshwater fish such as the anadromous wild salmon is the largest known human tapeworm in existence today.

After the larva is ingested by a fish eating mammal it hooks onto the small intestine where it then grows to maturity, feeding off of its host for nutrients, especially those as vitamin B12. Cooking the fish or freezing it at -31 degrees Fahrenheit or colder for 15 hours is the only way to kill the larvae and reduce the risk of ingesting it. Marinating it will not kill the larvae. Freezing fish at slightly higher temperatures for longer periods of time could also kill the larvae but is usually not practiced because it tends to diminish the quality of the fish.

There have been many instances of Diphyllobothrium latum infections. In the fall of 1980 there were 36 known cases on the East Coast attributed to raw salmon and in 1984 there were 17 more people in the village of King Salmon, Alaska who acquired tapeworms from consuming the fish. There have also been many cases throughout history where restaurants have been sued due to claims of customers getting tapeworms after consuming undercooked meals consisting of salmon. In Chicago, a man sued a local restaurant for $100,000 after acquiring a tapeworm that was nine feet long after eating an undercooked salmon salad in 2006. These worms have been known to grow anywhere up to 20 feet long.

It is highly recommended that all seafood individuals decide to eat raw be previously frozen. It is better to be safe than sorry. Although fresh raw fish may taste better in some people’s opinions, it is more susceptible to parasites and due to this fact is a matter that should never be taken lightly in any case.

Another parasite that is commonly found in raw salmon is known as the seal worm. These worms often infest the flesh of salmon, mackerel, Pacific rockfish, jacksmelt, halibut and flounders. Unlike other parasitic creatures found in the fish, they are easily visible to the naked eye and can be easily removed if you catch them. These worms are little, brown and curl up like a spring. They can be missed if not looked for carefully. Some fish owners in New England have been known to put their fish fillets inside of a light box first to detect the worms. This is one reason cod is often never seen at many sushi bars.

The good news is that unlike tapeworms neither the cod nor the seal worm will kill you. If you happen to eat one, they will typically pass right through you without you ever knowing that it was consumed in the first place. However, sometimes they will successfully attach themselves to the stomach, causing nausea and abdominal pain. They will die soon enough, but sometimes not without first causing a lot of unpleasant pain within its host.

When consuming raw fish it is often a good idea to consider the fact that this fish has most likely not been treated well from the second that it came over the rail of the boat. Therefore it is not going to be a good fish to consume raw either.

Sushi-grade fish are often caught quickly, bled upon capture, gutted soon after and then iced thoroughly. A piece of fish can be good to eat cooked but taste really nasty when eaten raw. Cooking kills a lot of bacteria that begin to accumulate in raw fish after it has died.

If you are good at catching fish and prefer to eat them raw it is best to eat species that are edible raw. A few other tips you can follow to reduce your chances of being infected with a parasite are as follows:

• Bleed the fish by slicing through the gills or cutting a slice near the tail all the way to the backbone.
• Gut the fish on the boat. Most parasites that are often found in fish, once lived in the animals guts and then migrated to the flesh after it died. Fast gutting prevents this in most cases.
• Bring ice onto the boat even in cold weather. Buy many pounds of it and buy more than one bag. Chill your fish on the ice after following these steps. It will be worth it in the end and your digestive tract will thank you later when it is not crawling with worms.

The best way to not become ill from eating salmon is to cook it rather than eating it raw. If you do eat it raw always make sure that it has been frozen first.

It is true that many salmon do in fact die after spawning. There are many various species of Pacific salmon spawning semelparously. The word Semelparous refers to the reproductive strategy of an organism. A species is considered semelparous if it is characterized by a single reproductive episode before death. In truly semelparous species, death after reproduction is simply a way of life and is part of an overall strategy that includes putting all available resources into maximizing reproduction at the expense of future life. About 90 to 95% of all Atlantic salmon also die following their first spawning, however some survive to spawn two or three more times. As many as four spawning have been reported in some cases. The surviving salmon, predominantly female, return to sea to feed between spawning.

However this does not indicate why the survivors were able to make it, whether they somehow are better able to withstand the freshwater than their cohorts, or if they just manage to have enough food reserves to get them back to sea and back to full health is still in question. It is suggested however that most that die do so as a result of possibly using all of their energy to return to their home stream for making eggs and digging up the nest. During this time most salmon stop eating when they return to freshwater and as a result have little no energy left for a return trip to the ocean after spawning.

After these salmon die, other animals have been known to eat them. However humans do not. If the dead salmon are not consumed after dying, they decompose and add nutrients to the stream. Some common species of salmon that have been known to die often after spawning include the Chinook and Coho salmon. They may be less palatable since they do not feed during their spawning runs, which cause their muscle tissues to begin to break down. Fish that usually do not die after spawning and are generally found to be in much better condition during spawning include fish such as the steelhead, brown trout and brook trout.

Salmon are generally considered to be omnivorous creatures that will eat just about anything. They mostly feast upon plants and/or plant material but have also been known to eat smaller fish from time to time and in some cases may even be found eating their own eggs. What a salmon eats also depends on their age, species and location.

When salmon are young and still residing in freshwater they eat tiny zooplankton and adult invertebrates. However, this too varies upon the species. For instance, young Coho salmon typically feed during the day and have been found to prefer aquatic insects often found at the surfaces of a stream such as mayflies, caddis flies and stone flies. While the young Chinook salmon often prefers plankton it locates off of the river floor as well as terrestrial insects and small crustaceans. Another food source that is not uncommon for young salmon is found on overhanging riparian plants. Larvae and insects feeding upon this vegetation often fall into the stream allowing the salmon to add this to, to their diet.

As a salmon matures and eventually leaves the freshwater to venture off into the ocean, their diet may begin to change. While Chum and Sockeye salmon prefer to continue eating zooplankton and occasionally other small adult fish, other species have been known to begin eating larger fish and aquatic insects. This often includes shrimp, surf smelt, sand lance, crab, herring, amphipods, and krill. When salmon return to freshwater to spawn, feeding efforts virtually stop as a means to conserve more energy for the journey upstream to produce eggs and dig a nest.

While salmon are hungry little creatures that can be found feasting upon plankton and the like, there are plenty of things that are ready to feast upon the salmon. This fish is a hearty staple for humans and also a favorite treat for birds, bears, sea lions, dolphins and other large predatory fish.

Salmon kept on farms are often fed things such as mixtures that contain ground up fish, and/or other organisms from the ocean, as well as food sources with a soy base. Something that should be considered about salmon who are kept on farms is that they may come with a couple of hazards. Salmon that were farmed and fed on vegetable rather than animal proteins may be lacking in Omega-3, which is one of the main reasons salmon are so healthy for a human diet. Farmed salmon are also usually highly susceptible to sea lice, a relentless parasite that has been known to spread throughout the salmon farm in the blink of an eye and that can also be spread into the wild if the farmed salmon have been kept in connecting waters.