Louisiana Foods Fish Fact for:
ARCTIC CHAR

Whether it's smoked over sheep dung in barren polar regions of Iceland or served with a raspberry beurre blanc in one of New York's most expensive restaurants, Arctic char always draws rave reviews. Despite continued small worldwide production (under 1,000 tons combined wild and farmed), the fish is growing in popularity and name recognition. Arctic char can be either anadromous or landlocked; farmed or wild. They can weigh anywhere from a few ounces to 30 pounds and are indigenous to practically every country above the 60th parallel. Arctic char are most closely related to brook trout, but different strains of the fish can vary dramatically in size, flesh color and flavor, not just from country to country, but even within the same river system.

Species Specifics
  • Iceland and Canada are the leading producers of Arctic char, both farmed and wild, producing about 300 and 200 tons, respectively. Norway is starting to farm more char, but had only exported 64 tons to the U.S. through June of this year.
  • The flesh color of char runs from white to red, depending on feed, season and location.
  • In northern Europe there are several subspecies of landlocked Arctic char, left in lakes when the glaciers retreated, that only grow to about seven ounces.
  • One theory speculates that the land bridge once separating the Arctic Ocean from the Pacific isolated two distinct species of char: Dolly Varden to the south and Arctic char, which eventually became circumpolar to the north.
  • It takes about three years for farm raised Arctic char to reach market size of two to six pounds, depending on the strain.

Choice Char
Canada's largest producer of Arctic char (150,000 pounds this year) raises a prized strain of fish from remote Nauyuk Lake in the Northwest Territories. These fish grow up to twice the size of other farmed char, (four to six pounds), and have firm, coral colored flesh.

Fish Fans
The Arctic char is not only revered by chefs and diners. Its biological variations have earned it a loyal following among scientists. In fact, a number of scientists from nations where the fish is indigenous have formed a group called the Arctic Char Fanatics devoted to studying the fish.

The above information is from the Seafood Leader.
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