How do trout, salmon and char behave differently on a fish farm?

Trout are wolves, salmon are sheep, and char are like golden retrievers.

You might think that our three fish are similar, but they aren’t. Each species has evolved very different characteristics that have helped them thrive in the wild.

That means we have to adjust our practices on the farm so they thrive in our care too!

Here’s how different our three types of fish are to raise on the farm.

Rainbow trout

Rainbow trout are very aggressive, independent and territorial, which has helped them adapt to nearly every cold-water region on the planet. They work hard to out-compete every other fish for food, including their cousins in the tanks.

This means that we need to continually sort them so that like-sized trout are with other like-sized trout, so they don’t start bugging the smaller ones in the tank. We also make sure to feed them enough, or any slightly smaller fish don’t get any feed at all.

If there aren’t enough trout in a tank, they can start creating their own territories and bullying. So we keep them at certain densities so that the overall stress level in the tank goes down.

Coho salmon

Coho salmon are much less bullish. They don’t attack the food like the trout, but rather casually roll by to grab what they can. In the wild, they’re more foragers than hunters when they’re young.

But they do groupthink like a flock of sheep. That means if one gets scared, the entire tank reacts almost instantly because they tell all their friends to watch out. We have to be much more careful when working with them or using loud equipment nearby.

Arctic char

Arctic char are the easy-going golden retrievers of the group. In the wild, they have strong family ties and prefer being near siblings. The cold water also gives them a slower metabolism and a calmer attitude.

They get to know us better than any other species, and swim by to say hello even when it isn’t feeding time. They also hang out at the bottom of the tank, and are the only species that are less picky and willing to eat food off the bottom.

So who’s going to write a fairy (fish)tale about the wolf, the sheep and the golden retriever? We bet it would be ‘trout’ of this world!