Get ready for the 2025 pink salmon run when locals and fishing associations will trap as many pink salmon as possible before they enter northern Norway’s rivers! The media will be out in force too, describing how pink salmon threaten northern coastal ecosystems. But how much do we really know?

Large numbers of pink salmon are relatively new to Norway’s coasts and rivers, and so is our knowledge about their potential impacts on these ecosystems. The Fram Centre’s Catchment to Coast programme has focused on understanding some of the interactions of pink salmon with coastal ecosystems—a priority for those managing our northernmost rivers. Local management and interest groups in Finnmark have expressed their concerns about lack of knowledge on the degree to which pink salmon are spreading into even smaller tributaries, disturbing spawning of native salmonids, impacting river water quality with their rotting carcasses, and competing for food with native salmonids. These concerns were repeatedly expressed to Bror Bonde from the Arctic Sustainability Lab at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway, during interviews in 2024. Bror set out to determine what main ecological knowledge is lacking and hindering the effective management of pink salmon.

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