Norwegian record Pink salmon: 4.43 kg

About Pink salmon

The pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) is a Pacific salmon and an unwanted alien species in Norway, arriving after releases on Russia's Kola Peninsula from the late 1950s. At sea it is bright silver, with large oval black spots on the back and all over the tail, and very small scales. Once in fresh water it turns grey or greenish, and males develop a pronounced hump and hooked jaws. Usually 1.5–2.5 kg, it spawns in late summer and nearly all then die. Pink salmon keep a strict two-year life cycle, and in Norway big runs arrive in odd-numbered years, mostly in rivers in Finnmark and Troms but now along the whole coast. Any pink salmon you catch, at sea or in a river, must not be released: kill it quickly and report the catch. As an alien it is Not Applicable (NA) on the Norwegian Red List 2021, and the 2023 alien species list rates it very high risk (SE).

Sources: Artsdatabanken, Fiskeridirektoratet, Miljødirektoratet, Wikipedia

• Habitat: Ferskvann
• Best month: Juli

See the species guide

Biggest Pink salmon in FishComp

Caught a Pink salmon? Log it in FishComp.

How to register a Norwegian record

1. Norwegian sport-fishing records are registered with Villmarksliv, not with FishComp. Read the rules before you do anything else with the fish.
2. Records are based on weight and approved by a jury. You give the weight and length, where it was caught, the gear you used and any witnesses.
3. Keep your photos and notes from the catch. Logging it in FishComp does not register a record.