Main commercial species

Diadromous fish

Most diadromous fish live in the ocean and return to fresh water to spawn. Species that do this are termed anadromous. Eels, which do the opposite, spawning in salt water and returning to fresh water to feed, are termed catadromous.

• Atlantic salmon
• Smelt
• Gaspereau
• American eel

İAtlantic Fishes of Canada / Scott

Atlantic salmon
Salmo salar

This highly prized species is primarily the focus of recreational fishers in the Gulf Region, which includes a number of celebrated salmon rivers.

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İAtlantic Fishes of Canada / Scott

Smelt
Osmerus mordax

The smelt is a small migratory fish that is found in abundance along the Atlantic coast. Smelts swim up rivers to spawn in fresh water, beginning in March, after having spent the autumn and winter in the estuaries of the Gulf. Thanks to its numerous estuaries, the Gulf Region contains the most important populations of this fish in the world.

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Gaspereau
Alosa pseudoharengus

This small fish, which belongs to the herring family, swims up rivers to spawn in the spring. Much of the commercial catch of this species is sold on the local market for use as bait in the lobster and snow crab fisheries.

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İAtlantic Fishes of Canada / Scott

American eel
Anguilla rostrata

Eels are migratory fish that travel great distances, swimming up rivers and streams until they reach inland lakes. After living for between five and ten years in fresh water, they return to spawn and die in the waters of the Sargasso Sea, in the southwestern part of the North Atlantic.