Salmon Industry: Controversy and Breakthrough of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout

With the upgrading of consumption, the rise of a new generation of consumer power, and the gradual improvement of consumers' awareness of healthy and nutritious food in China's third- and fourth-tier cities, China's salmon market has grown rapidly. After decades of development, salmon has gradually become popular from being little known.

In the Chinese market, the controversy over "salmon" has never stopped. The debates on the Internet about "whether rainbow trout can be called salmon" and "whether salmon can be eaten raw" have been going on, reflecting consumers' high attention to food safety issues.

It is understood that the salmon produced on the west coast of Canada is mainly Pacific salmon, including Chinook/King, Coho/Silver, Chum/Dog, Sockeye/Red, Pink/Humpy and other varieties. The "salmon" here should refer to the fish used to process canned fish at that time.

Zheng Weizhong, director of the Salmon Branch of the China Aquatic Products Circulation and Processing Association, has been engaged in marine biological research and practice for more than 40 years. He told reporters that the Chinese word "Salmon" originated from the English word "salmon". Since the Cantonese pronunciation of "salmon" is very similar to "三文鱼", over time, everyone has formed this habitual saying. But he also said that this naming method is not completely accurate. Internationally, "salmon" is actually a general term for a type of fish.

In biological classification, there are 11 genera under the Salmonidae family, with about 200 fish species. Among them, "Oncorhynchus" and "Salmo" are the most common. The Salmon genus includes Pacific salmon and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss/Rainbow trout). The Norwegian salmon, which is currently well-known to Chinese consumers, is the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar/Atlantic salmon), which belongs to the salmon genus.

Qinghai, Xinjiang, Yunnan and other places in China are studying another type of salmon that is more suitable for China's aquaculture environment - rainbow trout, and are gradually expanding the scale under the guidance of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and foreign experts.

Atlantic salmon is widely loved by Chinese consumers because of its delicious meat, delicate taste, high protein, high Omega-3 fatty acids and high vitamin D, and its import volume has gradually exceeded that of other salmon types. Around 2000, Norwegian Atlantic salmon once accounted for nearly 90% of China's salmon imports, so when it comes to "salmon", consumers generally think of Norwegian Atlantic salmon.

Wang Xin, who is engaged in salmon wholesale business in Beijing Xinfadi Market, told reporters that the nutritional content of these two fish is similar, but because Chinese people prefer foods rich in fat, Atlantic salmon is more popular than rainbow trout. At the same time, due to international shipping costs and other reasons, the market price of Atlantic salmon will be higher. However, in Europe and the United States such as Norway, consumers prefer rainbow trout with a tougher taste and lower fat content, and the price of rainbow trout is higher.

When the reporter visited the market, he found that boxes of imported salmon usually have Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar/Atlantic Salmon) written on the foam outer packaging. In some large supermarkets, the unprocessed fresh or frozen salmon pre-packaging will also indicate the origin or species name, but many processed sashimi or sushi do not make such an explanation. With the upgrading of consumption, the rise of a new generation of consumer power, and the gradual improvement of consumers' awareness of healthy and nutritious food in China's third- and fourth-tier cities, China's salmon market has grown rapidly. After decades of development, salmon has gradually become popular from being little known.

In the Chinese market, the controversy over "salmon" has never stopped. The debate on the Internet about "whether rainbow trout can be called salmon" and "whether salmon can be eaten raw" has been going on one after another, reflecting consumers' high attention to food safety issues.

It is understood that the salmon produced on the west coast of Canada are mainly Pacific salmon, including Chinook/King, Coho/Silver, Chum/Dog, Sockeye/Red, Pink/Humpy and other varieties. The "Salmon" here should refer to the fish used to process canned fish at that time.

Zheng Weizhong, director of the Salmon Branch of the China Aquatic Products Circulation and Processing Association, has been engaged in marine biological research and practice for more than 40 years. He told reporters that the Chinese word "Salmon" originated from the English word "salmon". Because the Cantonese pronunciation of "salmon" is very similar to "Salmon", over time, everyone has formed this habitual saying. But he also said that this naming method is not completely accurate. In the international community, "salmon" is actually a general term for a type of fish.

In biological classification, there are 11 genera under the Salmonidae family, with about 200 fish species. Among them, Oncorhynchus and Salmo are the most common. Oncorhynchus includes Pacific salmon and rainbow trout. Salmo salar, the Norwegian salmon that is well known to Chinese consumers, belongs to the Salmon genus.

Qinghai, Xinjiang, Yunnan and other places in China are studying another type of salmon that is more suitable for China's aquaculture environment, rainbow trout, and are gradually expanding their scale under the guidance of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and foreign experts.

Atlantic salmon is widely loved by Chinese consumers because of its delicious meat, delicate taste, high protein, high Omega-3 fatty acids and high vitamin D. Its import volume has gradually exceeded that of other salmon species. Around 2000, Norwegian Atlantic salmon once accounted for nearly 90% of China's salmon imports. Therefore, when it comes to "salmon", consumers generally think of Norwegian Atlantic salmon.

Wang Xin, who is engaged in salmon wholesale business in Beijing Xinfadi Market, told reporters that the nutritional content of these two fish is similar, but because Chinese people prefer foods rich in fat, Atlantic salmon is more popular than rainbow trout. At the same time, due to international shipping costs and other reasons, the market price of Atlantic salmon will be higher. However, in Europe and the United States such as Norway, consumers prefer rainbow trout with a tougher taste and lower fat content, and the price of rainbow trout is higher.

When the reporter visited the market, he found that boxes of imported salmon usually have Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar/Atlantic Salmon) written on the foam outer packaging. In some large supermarkets, the unprocessed fresh or frozen salmon pre-packaging will also indicate the origin or species name, but many processed sashimi or sushi do not make such an explanation.