River catch of salmon, sea trout and migratory char, 2012

The total catch consisted of 440 tonnes of salmon and 55 tonnes of sea trout and migratory char. Compared with 2011, the increase was 12 per cent for salmon and 7 per cent for the two other species.

More big salmon

The average weight of salmon caught, but not released, was 3.9 kg in 2012, compared with 3.8 kg in 2011. Twenty-five per cent of the salmon weighed less than 3 kg, 39 per cent between 3 and 7 kg and 36 per cent above 7 kg.

Tana at the top

Tana and its tributaries was the most important river system in 2012, with a total catch of 51.1 tonnes. This is 12.5 tonnes more than in 2011. Next in line were Gaulavassdraget, Altavassdraget, Namsenvassdraget and Orkla. The ranking of the rivers is based on the total catch, including catch and release.

More catch and release

In 2012, 25 600 salmon, sea trout and migratory char were caught and released into the river again, up 20 per cent from the year before. Gaula and Orkla were the most important rivers, with catch and release of 1 462 and 930 fish respectively.

Finnmark was the county where most fish were released into the rivers again; in total 5 245 salmon and 798 sea trout and migratory char. Next in line were Sogn og Fjordane, Nordland and Sør-Trøndelag.

Average weight for catch and release salmon was 4.6 kg and for sea trout and migratory char 0.9 kg.