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Arctic char
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Arctic char or Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) is both a freshwater and saltwater fish in the Salmonidae family, native to Arctic, sub-Arctic and alpine lakes and coastal waters. No other freshwater fish is found as far north. It is the only species of fish in Lake Hazen, on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic. It is one of the rarest fish species in Britain, found only in deep, cold, glacial lakes, mostly in Scotland and is at risk from acidification.
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Encyclopedia
Arctic char or Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) is both a freshwater and saltwater fish in the Salmonidae family, native to Arctic, sub-Arctic and alpine lakes and coastal waters. No other freshwater fish is found as far north. It is the only species of fish in Lake Hazen, on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic. It is one of the rarest fish species in Britain, found only in deep, cold, glacial lakes, mostly in Scotland and is at risk from acidification. In other parts of its range, such as Scandinavia, it is much more common, and is fished extensively. In Siberia, it is known as golets (from the Russian ?????) and it has been introduced in lakes where it sometimes threatens less hardy endemic species, like the long-finned char.
The Arctic char is closely related to both salmon and trout and has many characteristics of both. Individual char fish can weigh 20 lb (9 kilograms) or more with record sized fish having been taken by angling in Northern Canada, where it is known as iqaluk or tariungmiutaq in Inuktitut. Generally, whole market sized fish are between 2 and 5 lb in weight (900 g and 2.3 kilograms). The flesh colour of char varies; it can range from a bright red to a pale pink.
Arctic char farming
Research aimed at determining the suitability of Arctic char as a cultured species has been ongoing since the late 1970s. The Canadian government's Freshwater Institute of Fisheries and Oceans Canada at Winnipeg, Manitoba, and the Huntsman Marine Science Laboratory of New Brunswick, pioneered the early efforts in Canada. Arctic char is also farmed in Iceland, Norway, West Virginia and Ireland.
Arctic char were first investigated because it was expected that they would have low optimum temperature requirements and would grow well at the cold water temperatures present in numerous areas of Canada. It was also expected that char would be an alternate species to rainbow trout and could provide producers with a different niche in the marketplace.
The initial research efforts concentrated on identifying the culture needs and performance characteristics of the species. The Freshwater Institute was responsible for distributing small numbers of char eggs to producers in Canada; these producers in return helped determine the suitability of char in a commercial setting. Commercial char breeding stocks have now been developed largely from these sources.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium "Seafood Watch" program has recently added farmed Arctic char as an environmentally sustainable Best Choice for consumers, stating: "Arctic char use only a moderate amount of marine resources for feed. In addition, Arctic char are farmed in land-based, closed systems that minimize the risk of escape into the wild."
Further reading
External links
- :This site deals with Arctic Char and farming the fish using land based farms. Gives a background and description of the species including its aquaculture history.
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