Salmon spawning in their home rivers have the edge in mating over those born in other streams. This was the discovery of a new study examining the sex lives of Atlantic salmon in northern Finland. The results show that the local salmon produce vastly more offspring than salmon trying their luck on unfamiliar spawning grounds.
“Knowledge of the sex life of salmon can help us to preserve and protect local populations,” explains Doctor Kenyon Mobley, a researcher at the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Helsinki and one of the lead authors of the study. The study was conducted by scientists from the University of Helsinki in cooperation with Natural Resources Institute Finland and the University of Turku. The results were published in the journal Science Advances.