Pink salmon – Oncorhynchus gorbuscha

The original distribution range of pink salmon is on both sides of the northern parts of the Pacific Ocean, in North America and Asia. The species has clearly the largest populations compared with salmonids native to the Pacific Ocean. The Russians stocked pink salmon in the Baltic Sea in the late 1990s, as well as in the North Atlantic in the White Sea and along the Murmansk coast. Stocking established strong populations reproducing during odd years especially in rivers discharged into the White Sea, from where the species has started to spread to the west in recent years, including to the Teno and Näätämö rivers. The rapid expansion of the distribution range in the North Atlantic and the significant increase in pink salmon populations started in 2017. The growth curve steepened again in 2021. For example, it has been estimated that at most a few hundred pink salmon individuals usually migrated to the Teno river each year before 2017 (during odd years), while the estimate was 5,000 in 2017 and 50,000 in 2021.