Arctic Char

About Arctic Char

Arctic char or Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) is both a freshwater and saltwater fish in the Salmonidae family, native to Arctic, sub-Arctic and alpine lakes and coastal waters. No other freshwater fish is found as far north. It is the only species of fish in Lake Hazen, on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic. It is one of the rarest fish species in Britain, found only in deep, cold, glacial lakes, mostly in Scotland and is at risk from acidification. In other parts of its range, such as Scandinavia, it is much more common, and is fished extensively. In Siberia, it is known as golets (from the Russian голец).

The Arctic char is closely related to both salmon and trout and has many characteristics of both. Individual char fish can weigh 20 lb (9 kilograms) or more with record sized fish having been taken by angling in Northern Canada, where it is known as iqaluk or tariungmiutaq in Inuktitut. Generally, whole market sized fish are between 2 and 5 lb in weight (900 g and 2.3 kilograms). The flesh colour of char varies; it can range from a bright red to a pale pink.

Research aimed at determining the suitability of Arctic char as a cultured species has been ongoing since the late 1970s. The Canadian government's Freshwater Institute of Fisheries and Oceans Canada at Winnipeg, Manitoba, and the Huntsman Marine Science Laboratory of New Brunswick, pioneered the early efforts in Canada. Arctic char is also farmed in Iceland, Norway, West Virginia and Ireland.