VKM Report 2020: 01 Assessment of the risk to Norwegian biodiversity and aquaculture from pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment Report from the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) 2020: 01 Assessment of the risk to Norwegian biodiversity and aquaculture from pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha). Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment. 15.01.2020 ISBN: 978-82-8259-334-2 ISSN: 2535-4019 Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) Po 222 Skøyen N – 0213 Oslo Norway Phone: +47 21 62 28 00 Email: [email protected] vkm.no vkm.no/english Cover photo: Colourbox Suggested citation: VKM, Kjetil Hindar, Lars Robert Hole, Kyrre Kausrud, Martin Malmstrøm, Espen Rimstad, Lucy Robertson, Odd Terje Sandlund, Eva B. Thorstad, Knut Wiik Vollset, Hugo de Boer, Katrine Eldegard, Johanna Järnegren, Lawrence Kirkendall, Inger Måren, Anders Nielsen, Erlend B. Nilsen, Eli Rueness and Gaute Velle (2020). Assessment of the risk to Norwegian biodiversity and aquaculture from pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha). Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). VKM report 2020:01, ISBN: 978-82-8259-334-2, ISSN: 2535-4019. Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM), Oslo, Norway. VKM Report 2020: 01 Assessment of the risk to Norwegian biodiversity and aquaculture from pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) Preparation of the opinion The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (Vitenskapskomiteen for mat og miljø, VKM) appointed a project group to ansver the mandate. The project group consisted of four VKM members, four external experts and a project leader from the VKM secretariat. Two external referees commented on and reviewed the opinion. The VKM Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) evaluated and approved the final opinion. Authors of the opinion Members of the project group that contributed to the drafting of the opinion In alphabetical order after chair of the project group: Kjetil Hindar – Chair of the project group and member of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in VKM. Affiliation: 1) VKM; 2) Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Trondheim. Lars Robert Hole – Member of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in VKM. Affiliation: 1) VKM; 2) The Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Bergen. Kyrre Kausrud – Member of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in VKM. Affiliation: 1) VKM; 2) The Norwegian Veterinary Institute (NVI), Oslo. Martin Malmstrøm – Member of the project group and project leader in the VKM secretariat. Affiliation: VKM. Espen Rimstad – Member of the project group and member of the Panel on Animal Health and Welfare in VKM. Affiliation: 1) VKM; 2) Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Oslo. Lucy J. Robertson - Member of the project group and member of the Panel on Biological Hazards in VKM. Affiliation: 1) VKM; 2) Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Oslo. Odd Terje Sandlund – Member of the project group. Affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Trondheim. Eva B. Thorstad – Member of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in VKM. Affiliation: 1) VKM; 2) Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Trondheim. VKM Report 2020: 01 Gaute Velle – Member of the project group and chair of the panel on Alien Organisms and trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and member of the Scientific Steering Committee in VKM. Affiliation: 1) VKM; 2) NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Bergen; 3) University of Bergen, Bergen. Knut Wiik Vollset – Member of the project group. Affiliation: 1) NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Bergen Members of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) that contributed to the assessment and approval of the opinion In addition to Kjetil Hindar, Lars Robert Hole, Kyrre Kaursrud, Eva B. Thorstad and Gaute Velle these were (in alphabetical order before chair/vice-chair of the Panel): Hugo de Boer – Member of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in VKM. Affiliation: 1) VKM; 2) Natural History Museum, Oslo. Katrine Eldegard – Member of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in VKM. Affiliation: 1) VKM; 2) Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Ås. Johanna Järnegren – Member of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in VKM. Affiliation: 1) VKM; 2) Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Trondheim. Lawrence Kirkendall – Member of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in VKM. Affiliation: 1) VKM; 2) Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen. Inger Måren – Member of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in VKM. Affiliation: 1) VKM; 2) Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen. Erlend B. Nilsen – Member of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in VKM. Affiliation: 1) VKM; 2) Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Trondheim. Eli Rueness – Member of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in VKM. Affiliation: 1) VKM; 2) Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo. Anders Nielsen – Vice chair of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in VKM. Affiliation: 1) VKM; 2) Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO); 3) Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo. VKM Report 2020: 01 Acknowledgment VKM thanks the referees Professor Jaakko Erkinaro (National Resources Institute Finland (Luke)) and Professor Colin Bean (Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow) for reviewing and commenting on the manuscript. VKM emphasises that the referees are not responsible for the content of the final opinion. In accordance with VKM’s routines for approval of a risk assessment, VKM received the referees' comments before evaluation and approval by the Panel and prior to publication. VKM would also like to thank Dr. Rune Muladal (Naturtjenester i Nord) and Professor Katherine Dunlop (Institute of Marine Research, Bergen) for comments and discussions on potential measurements and ecological impact, respectively. Competence of VKM experts Persons working for VKM, either as appointed members of the Committee or as external experts, do this by virtue of their scientific expertise, not as representatives for their employers or third-party interests. The Civil Services Act instructions on legal competence apply for all work prepared by VKM. VKM Report 2020: 01 Table of Contents Summary .............................................................................................................. 10 Sammendrag på norsk ......................................................................................... 16 Glossary ................................................................................................................ 21 Background as provided by the Norwegian Environment Agency and Norwegian Food Safety Authority .................................................................................. 22 Terms of reference as provided by the Norwegian Environment Agency and Norwegian Food Safety Authority ................................................................ 24 1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 26 1.1 Invasive fish species ............................................................................................ 26 Problems related to invasive non-native fish ................................................ 26 Invasive fish in Norway .............................................................................. 26 1.2 Biology and ecology of pink salmon ....................................................................... 27 Taxonomy ................................................................................................ 27 Morphology and coloration ......................................................................... 27 Life cycle .................................................................................................. 29 Freshwater ecology ................................................................................... 32 Marine ecology .......................................................................................... 33 Vector for nutrients ................................................................................... 33 Native distribution ..................................................................................... 33 Introduction to Northwest Russia ................................................................ 34 Pink salmon in Norway............................................................................... 36 Influence of climate ................................................................................. 39 Previous risk assessments of pink salmon .................................................. 41 2 Methodology and data.................................................................................