can i catch salmon in boston?

June 28, 2010 10:16 AM

I'm starting to fish in the Boston area. Can you catch atlantic salmon at any point somewhere around boston? Google offers no help.
posted by lrodman to sports, hobbies, & recreation (5 answers total)

I can't say for certain, but considering the last wild atlantic salmon populations in the US are listed as Endangered under the ESA, and there is a major ongoing effort to restore a population in the Connnecticut River from its extirpation in the 19th century, your prospects don't look good.

However, this seems to indicate some stocked lakes that have salmon in them. It's not entirely clear as to what the current fishing regulations are, but those areas might be a place to start.
posted by just_ducky at 10:56 AM on June 28, 2010

You can't fish for wild salmon in the Boston area (or pretty much the entire New England area). Wild Atlantic salmon have been designated as an endangered species for quite a while now. There may be some fishing locations that artificially stock salmon (probably with farm raised salmon) but I don't personally know of any.
posted by GnomeChompsky at 11:38 AM on June 28, 2010

Hm, how do people sell wild atlantic salmon in stores?
posted by lrodman at 1:34 PM on June 28, 2010

I'm not sure where the wild Atlantic salmon you buy comes from -- maybe Norway? -- but it's not from the U.S. See http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch/species/atl_salmon.htm. I remember reading once that there are some rivers in Canada that flow into the Hudson Bay that are stocked with salmon for fishing. Perhaps they're wild ones incubated in aquacultures?
posted by GnomeChompsky at 2:01 PM on June 28, 2010

I'm guessing most Atlantic salmon sold in stores is farm-raised. Norway, Chile, and the West Coast of Canada (where I am) are all major salmon farming locations. The farms here generally raise Atlantic salmon, not our native Pacific salmon species. We export about 80% of farmed salmon to the US. In Canada, the Inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon are also Endangered, and the population from Lake Ontario is Extirpated.
posted by just_ducky at 8:37 PM on June 28, 2010