Fish
Salmo salar
A tier
Salmo salar is the Atlantic salmon—the only salmon native to the North Atlantic basin, farmed and wild from Norway and Scotland to eastern Canada and the Baltic. Flesh is orange-pink with large moist flakes and moderate to high oil depending on diet and season; farmed fish often run fatter and milder, wild fish leaner and more intense. This is the default “salmon” of European and much global retail: fillets, sides, whole fish, and smoked products. Pan-sear skin-on, roast gently, cure for gravlax, or cold- and hot-smoke. Pull at just-opaque for moisture; oily farmed flesh forgives a hotter sear than lean wild winter fish.
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Grading systems
Grades are placed along a shared scale so systems can be compared side by side.
History
Atlantic salmon ran European and eastern North American rivers as a staple migratory food.
Industrial rivers and overfishing reduced wild Salmo salar runs while smoked salmon trade grew.
Net-pen aquaculture made Salmo salar a year-round global commodity fish.
Organic, ASC, and wild-certified Salmo salar lines segmented premium markets.