The largest representative of salmonids, preferring cold waters, is nelma. It belongs to the whitefish family and subspecies of the white fish. Her meat is white or light pink, but not red. This freshwater or semi-salmon salmon reaches a length of up to 1.3 m and weighs about 40 kg. The largest fish was caught 1.5 m long and weighed almost 50 kg.
Description
The long body of the nelma is similar to a “torpedo” or “spindle”, from the sides it is slightly flattened.
Eight small fins are located on the body:
- dorsal;
- anal;
- fatty - it has no rays and is a fold of skin;
- tail;
- abdominal
- side.
The caudal fin is noticeably bifurcated, equal-lobed and, together with the dorsal, has a darker color than the rest.
You can distinguish nelmu from other salmon by a small triangular head disproportionate to the body. The mouth is large with many small sharp teeth, they are even on the tongue. The lower jaw is very elongated and protrudes forward, in length it is longer than the upper. A characteristic feature of the fish is also the dorsal fin. He is sharp and tall. In the lateral line, there are about 100 scales (from 80 to 120 pieces).
The back is gray with a greenish, bluish or brownish tint. The belly is white, the rest of the body is covered with large silver-colored scales. There are no dark spots on the body, while the rest of the whitefish representatives have them.
There are two types of white fish, all of them “emerged” from the Arctic:
- True whitefish - A resident of the Caspian Sea, where she later got from the basin of the Arctic Ocean. She prefers warm and calm waters.
- True nelma - an inhabitant of cold waters.
Whitefish differs from nelma in smaller sizes, faster growth and puberty. The appearance of both populations is the same. Life expectancy of fish does not exceed 22 years.
Spread
Fish, as mentioned earlier, swims in cold waters. Therefore, it is met in the Arctic and in reservoirs associated with the Pacific Ocean. The main area is the Siberian and Far Eastern region.
Considering the whole map of the world, it can be found in Canadian and American (Alaska) rivers, that is, in areas with a similar Siberian climate.
Nelma is unevenly distributed. In some places, its abundance is large, in others, fish can be counted on the fingers. Why? Several factors play a role here:
- a climate that may differ at one latitude;
- nature of rivers - slow flowing, fast flowing;
- poaching;
- ecological situation.
Ecology is one of the main factors affecting its distribution in ecosystems. Hydroelectric power plants built in the Nelma range increase the temperature of the water and make it cloudy. Fish have to leave these places, the habitat is catastrophically reduced, as well as places for spawning grounds. Water pollution is another common cause.
Nelma likes wide, clean rivers with a middle course and cold, running water, some are not averse to settle in lakes. This species can be divided conditionally by habitat into two types - river and lake and river. Representatives of the first group swim most of the time in large rivers of Siberia and near the coastline of the northern seas. Water salinity is not higher than 20 ppm. The second live in lakes, and leave them only, leaving for spawning.
Interestingly, while standing, she keeps her head against the tide. He does not like the depth of nelm, he tries to stay closer to the surface and does not fall below 2 meters. She prefers a sandy or pebble bottom. Avoids shallow water and rapids unlike other salmon. She does not enter such places even during the spawning period.
Nelma is a traveler; she travels very long distances (1,500 km) and often swims to the south of Siberia.
Nutrition
This is a vivid representative of the predatory world, it completely ignores plant foods. No wonder her jaw, tongue and opener are covered with sharp teeth. In the first year of life, fry are forced to eat mixed food due to their small size, but more often plankton and benthos are present in the diet. Then they switch to small fish.
The main food for adults is crustaceans, shrimps, fry and small fish - smelt, vendace, muksun, roach, burbot, fry of perch and carp, including their own smaller cousins, insect larvae. That is why she likes the river with a small stream, where this "good" is enough.
Lake representatives choose places near river mouths, and all for the same reason, rivers bring silt with “food” to the lake. Nelma never takes food from the bottom. She prefers to hunt and live in a pack. Flocking fish kill the victims with tail blows and then pick them up.
She goes hunting in the morning and evening, the most active in the morning. In the afternoon leads a passive lifestyle, this must be taken into account when going fishing for it.
Seasonal behavior
With the opening of rivers from ice, swarms of mature individuals begin to move from the Arctic Circle to spawning grounds. All summer, they move upstream, feeding weight. The intense movement of fish in the rivers is observed in mid-July.
By September, they reach the south-east of Siberia, where they make a stop for spawning in numerous small rivers, keeping the bottom. Nelma, living in internal lakes, spends all her life in them, and spawns in tributaries.
After spawning, it feeds itself until the next summer and gradually rolls down to the sea. Some individuals can remain in the duct for up to 3 years. Young live in spawning rivers for 2-3 years, and then descends into a large body of water.
Spawning
Nelma puberty occurs late, and is not related to its size or weight. This is a very slow-growing fish. Males mature by 5-10 years, females by 8-14, and their life expectancy is only 20-22 years. In addition, the female spawns not every year, but every 2-3 years, since the average path from the habitat to the spawning site takes six months.
So that uncontrolled fishing affects the population negatively, and today the small number of nelma is alarming among specialists.
Climbing along the river and finding a place with a sandy-stone bottom, the female begins to sweep non-sticky small caviar of light color. The water temperature at this point cools to 6-8 ° C of heat. At one time, the female lays 120-400 thousand eggs. They develop within 250 days between large stones. Larvae usually appear in April.
Unlike other salmon representatives, nelma does not die after spawning. By structure, females and males cannot be distinguished, that is, they lack sexual dimorphism. Their color does not change during the year; males do not wear a “wedding dress”.
Catching
Fishermen successfully catch nelma for spinning in the places of its main habitat - the mouths of large Siberian rivers. It is better to go fishing in the morning or in the evening, while evening fishing is less successful than morning fishing. In the afternoon, it is caught very poorly and only in cloudy and calm weather. The capture of nelma at night is unlikely.
The fish is very careful and shy, it defends itself vigorously, but quickly exhales. A fish caught on a hook makes several throws, and if it fails to break, it lays on its side and now it can be pulled ashore with the help of a net. Freshly caught fish smells like cucumbers and dies without water in a few minutes, while blood starts to ooze through the gills.
What do they catch nelma for? On a turntable or a narrow-bodied silver spinner - to the color of fry of smelt and vendace, which she used to hunt. Nelma is caught in the upper and middle layers of water, at a depth of no more than 2 meters or near the surface. Experienced anglers recommend taking a light rod with fishing line up to 1.5 thick or a woven thin cord.
The bait is on the upper layers of the water, where the fish is fed. If you are going to catch in deeper layers - in the middle or lower ones, then it is better to take a lure that is light-colored, which would resemble a white fish. On the surface of the reservoir, nelma bites well on a dark brass bait. She will try to stun the “victim”, so pretty loud bursts will be heard well.
Security status
Nelma is under state protection because of the rapid decline in the population. Initially, it was listed in the Red Books of the regions where it lives, and in 2001 it was already in the Red Book of Russia. Therefore, industrial and amateur fishing of this species is completely prohibited in the central and southern regions of Siberia.
A limited number of its fishing is permitted in the northern regions, where it is produced industrially by fishing cooperatives that have received a license.
The value of fish and its application
Nelma is a valuable commercial species and has high quality meat. 100 g of fish contains 160 kcal. In its composition of the main components only proteins and fats with polyunsaturated fatty acids. The latter are very useful for the body - they normalize lipid metabolism, remove “bad” cholesterol, and, therefore, contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and prevent the formation of cholesterol plaques.
Also in the composition is fat-soluble vitamin D, necessary for the absorption of calcium, with a lack of vitamin a risk of developing rickets. Indigenous people of the Far North who lack ultraviolet radiation, namely, using salmon, make up for the deficiency of vitamin D in the body.
Of the minerals, it is rich in chlorine, sulfur and fluorine. And also present - zinc, molybdenum, nickel, chromium, from vitamins - nicotinic acid or vitamin PP.
In cooking, it must be subjected to thorough heat treatment. Eating Japanese food, in which often one of the ingredients is fresh fish, is unsafe for health. This is due to the fact that nelma is infected with helminth - a wide ribbon that can settle in the human intestines and nanophytosis - roundworms that prefer to settle in the small intestine. The latter cause prolonged diarrhea with a large loss of fluid and nutrients. Larvae of roundworms can provoke the development of intestinal ulcers.
Nelma is tasty in fried, boiled, baked, smoked form. Fish broth with cream goes well.
Growing and breeding
To increase the population, they try to breed nelma artificially. But so far, experts have not achieved much success, since fry in large numbers die in captivity. To date, there is not even a technology for growing this type of fish in an artificial environment.
In the 20th century, scientists developed recommendations for growing nelma, but juveniles grew in ponds and lakes with a natural forage base. Later, already in 2009-2010, there were attempts to resume work, but they were experimental in nature.
Thus, the protection of spawning grounds and habitats of nelma is of utmost importance in preserving its population.
Nelma is a valuable specimen for breeding and fishing, it lives only in clean reservoirs, as it does not tolerate pollution. The fish has excellent taste, and true fishermen who prefer difficult and gambling will receive indescribable pleasure from the process.