The salmon of Asturias

Latitude: 43.3484650 Length: -5.1325464
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In the 18th century, during the fishing season, more than 12.000 salmon were caught in the Sella River alone . At the Benedictine monastery of San Pedro de Villanueva in Cangas de Onís, the local residents who worked for the monks went so far as to demand that they be served salmon only twice a week. Similar conditions were imposed on laborers working in other riverside towns such as Pravia, Pola de Laviana, and Cangas del Narcea.

In the town of Pravia, you can see a 400-kilogram replica of an old salmon fishing machine up close . Although now strictly prohibited, it was once all the rage on the banks of the Narcea River. The contraption in question, designed by the Frenchman Martin Duhart in 1865, is a giant mechanism with several blades that, at the time, hauled salmon out of the water en masse.

With such a rich salmon fishing history, it's no wonder that salmon fishing remains an annual event in the Principality. The anticipation is enormous throughout the season, especially when it officially begins. In March, the hunt for the popular Campanu , the first salmon of the year, commences. Throughout the season, the passage of time is recorded in catches and feats, lotteries, fishing grounds, baits used… good and bad luck.

The season ends in mid- to late July. Salmon fishing is generally limited to the main channels of the following rivers: Eo, Porcía, Navia, Narcea, Nalón, Sella, Cares, Deva, and Esva.

The gradual decline in catches seems to have reached its lowest point in the 90s. In 1997, barely more than 700 specimens were caught in the entire autonomous community. However, in 2001, a record for recent history was broken, reaching the not insignificant figure of 2.779 fish. More salmon are currently caught in Asturias than in the rest of the Iberian Peninsula.

The improvement in the water quality of Asturian rivers, some regulation of salmon fishing in the open sea, and, above all, restocking with fingerlings, are the reasons attributed to this gradual recovery. If things continue this way, it's reasonable to expect that salmon cuisine will gradually become more accessible to a wider audience.

Currently, the Campanu (first salmon of the season) fetches a high price , exceeding one million pesetas, and is usually purchased by renowned restaurants in the capital of Spain to invite prominent figures from the social, political, or sporting life of our country.

To make Asturian salmon more affordable and accessible to more people, we must continue to advance with sustainability criteria. A good example is the Sella River, which, according to the most recent technical studies, is the best salmon river in Spain. The Caño salmon hatchery (in Cangas de Onís) has become the natural laboratory for Asturian salmon. Thanks to its work, tens of thousands of native salmon fry are released into the Sella every year.

The tagging and subsequent tracking of the fry allows researchers to confirm the return of many of them as adults, after their time at sea. The artificial breeding and spawning carried out in other parts of Asturias results in more than half a million fry annually , which are used to repopulate all the salmon rivers in the region.

If we focus on the particular history of these salmonids, we will never cease to be amazed by the arduous lives they lead to perpetuate themselves. Migrating upriver and reproducing are one and the same: an eternal return, the search for their origin, the end of their existence. The Atlantic salmon, or Salmon salar, which is the species found in the Principality, only migrates upriver when it reaches a considerable size, up to a meter in length and a little over 15 kg in weight. Its body is slender, its flanks silvery, and its back metallic blue, covered with dark spots.

After fertilization, the high temperatures of Asturian rivers allow for rapid development of the fry. By the end of their first summer, they can reach 8 to 10 cm in length. During their time in the rivers , for one or two years, they are easy prey for otters, fishing birds, large trout, and even their own kind, which significantly reduces their numbers. As their first or second spring arrives, profound morphological and physiological changes occur as they prepare to transition to the conditions of the sea.

Once at sea, they live in remote, cold, and nutrient-rich waters. Salmon from the Atlantic coast congregate south of Greenland. There they spend one, two, or three years. After this period, they return like prodigal sons to their rivers to reproduce. And so, these survivors, unparalleled travelers and incurable nostalgics, return to their homeland at the appointed time, as if they possessed the entire ocean map and an infallible schedule.

Back in the river, they can no longer feed… their metabolism has adapted to a marine diet, and they must survive on their accumulated reserves. If no fisherman intervenes, the process of swimming upstream and reproducing will be exhausting for creatures unable to feed. Therefore, the salmon, now spawned and striding , are left with almost no energy reserves, many even dying, waiting for the spring floods to carry them back to the sea they are beginning to miss.