The domestic salmon controversy in China refers to a dispute in the aquatic products market in mainland China, where consumers and the media have questioned whether rainbow trout from freshwater aquaculture can be marketed under the name “salmon.” Some vendors claim that rainbow trout, like Atlantic salmon, is suitable for raw consumption, raising concerns about consumers’ right to information and food safety.
Reports of rainbow trout being marketed under the name “salmon” (a Cantonese transliteration of the English word “salmon”) in mainland China can be traced back to 2004, when market regulators in Shanghai carried out a rectification campaign. In May 2018, China Central Television Finance Channel reported that nearly one-third of the “salmon” sold in mainland China came from aquaculture farms at the Longyangxia Dam in Qinghai. In August 2018, the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance released a draft group standard titled "Raw-Consumption Salmon", proposing that rainbow trout could be sold as an ingredient for salmon sashimi. Supporters of the standard argued that the establishment of group standards by industry associations would promote the healthy development of the salmon market. Opponents, however, contended that many of those involved in drafting the standard had vested interests, and that classifying rainbow trout as salmon constituted mislabeling, undermined fair market competition, and infringed upon consumers’ rights to information and choice, as well as posing risks to food safety. Although various government agencies, quasi-governmental bodies, and social organizations conducted research on the draft standard, no consensus has been reached. Nevertheless, numerous experts in fields such as food science, law, quality regulation, and consumer protection have expressed their views on the issue.
Differences between rainbow trout and salmon
Rainbow trout Rainbow trout (scientific name: Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a species of freshwater fish in the family Salmonidae and the genus Oncorhynchus. It is native to coastal drainage systems of the Bering Sea in Northeast Asia and the Pacific Northwest of North America. Based on differences in anadromous behavior, rainbow trout can be further divided into several subspecies. With the exception of the anadromous form known as steelhead, most subspecies primarily inhabit inland freshwater environments and undertake migrations entirely within freshwater systems between lakes and streams during the spawning season.
Freshwater rainbow trout differ in appearance from the anadromous steelhead found in saltwater and brackish environments. Freshwater rainbow trout typically have a more rounded head and a body coloration ranging from blue, green, to pale yellow, with a silvery-white underside. Their backs are covered with black spots, and a broad pink stripe runs along the lateral line from the gill slit to the tail. The tail is relatively square-shaped with only slight forking. In contrast, steelhead more closely resemble marine fish, with a more elongated and streamlined body profile. Their coloration is generally more uniform grayish-white with higher reflectivity. They exhibit small black spots on the back and some degree of countershading camouflage. The characteristic red stripe is largely absent except during spawning migrations, when it may reappear. The tail is evenly spotted, and there are no teeth in the throat or at the back of the tongue. In addition, adult steelhead tend to be larger than freshwater rainbow trout, likely due to colder aquatic environments, consistent with Bergmann's rule. According to the National Wildlife Federation, steelhead and other forms of rainbow trout are not reproductively isolated and are considered the same species. Freshwater rainbow trout typically inhabit cool, shallow, and wide rivers and lakes. During the spawning season, they usually undertake short-distance migrations to upstream streams where they were born in order to reproduce. Like freshwater rainbow trout, steelhead grow in inland freshwater environments, but upon reaching maturity they migrate, like salmon, to estuaries and adjacent saltwater or brackish water habitats. They remain there until the spawning season, when they undertake long upstream migrations back to freshwater. This life cycle is similar to that of other Pacific salmon species commonly referred to as “salmon”. However, the Pacific Salmon Foundation in Canada notes that steelhead may alter their migratory behavior in response to environmental changes and may remain in freshwater for extended periods.
Rainbow trout and the closely related cutthroat trouts (O. clarkii clade) were historically classified together within the genus Salmo, which includes the Atlantic salmon, and were assigned the scientific name Salmo gairdneri. As early as 1914, the ichthyologist Charles Tate Regan proposed reclassifying rainbow trout within the Pacific salmon genus. In 1989, rainbow trout were formally reclassified into the genus Oncorhynchus, which includes six species of Pacific salmon, and the name Oncorhynchus mykiss was adopted. However, because the anadromous behavior of steelhead more closely resembles that of other species commonly referred to as salmon, the taxonomic classification of rainbow trout remains a subject of debate in Canada.
Salmon
The term “salmon” in Chinese (gui, 鮭/鲑) can be traced back to Middle Chinese, although its meaning differed significantly from its modern usage. At the time the Kangxi Dictionary was compiled, the character “gui” had several meanings, one of which referred to pufferfish. Beginning with the publication of the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Zoology edited by Du Yaquan, the original meaning of “gui” as pufferfish disappeared, and the term came to be used exclusively as a common name for fishes of the family Salmonidae. Historically, the salmon most commonly found in East Asia was the chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), commonly known in Chinese as dàmahā yú (大马哈鱼). The term derives from Northeastern Mandarin, which borrowed it from the Hezhe language of the Tungusic languages, where daw imaha was a general term referring to two species of Oncorhynchus fish (chum salmon and pink salmon) native to Outer Manchuria. Influenced by Chinese culture, Japan historically referred to chum salmon as sake (さけ), written with the characters 石桂魚 (distinct from the fish known as Siniperca in modern Chinese). From the Meiji period onward, the character 鮭 (read sake in Japanese) was adopted and used as a general term for all members of the family Salmonidae.
The term “salmon” in modern Chinese corresponds to the English word “salmon”, which is not a precise term in taxonomy but rather a common name used in Western fisheries to refer broadly to a group of edible fish with similar body forms, ecological niches, and anadromous life cycles. In this respect, it is comparable to other general terms in English such as bass, trout, carp, mackerel, and sardine. Historically, in Western usage, “salmon” primarily referred to the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), native to northwestern Europe, particularly the region known as Germania in Ancient Rome. Following the European colonization of the Americas, European settlers encountered salmonid species in the Pacific Ocean drainage systems of North America, and the meaning of “salmon” expanded to include six commercially important species of the genus Oncorhynchus along the North Pacific coast (chum salmon, Chinook salmon, sockeye salmon, pink salmon, masu salmon, and coho salmon). In addition to members of the family Salmonidae, the term “salmon” is sometimes used in regions outside Europe and North America to refer to unrelated fish species. Examples include the so-called “Australian salmon” (several in the genus Arripis of the order Scombriformes), “Hawaiian salmon” (Elagatis bipinnulata, also known as the rainbow runner, a species of the order Carangiformes), and “Indian salmon” (Eleutheronema tetradactylum, another species of the order Carangiformes).
Background Rainbow trout aquaculture in Longyangxia Reservoir In 1992, Jin Jipeng, then governor of Qinghai, convened an executive meeting to plan the development of rainbow trout aquaculture in the Longyangxia Reservoir. Taking advantage of the area’s high water quality and relatively low temperatures, multiple state-owned enterprises, private companies, and agricultural cooperatives entered the industry. The aquaculture sector later became a key industry in Gonghe County and Longyangxia Town. The county developed related sectors such as fish sales, agritourism, and leisure tourism to diversify economic growth. By 2015, the integrated industry chain in Longyangxia Town had generated approximately 70 million yuan in GDP. In July 2008, the DunAn Group obtained exclusive 50-year rights to develop and operate fishery resources in Longyangxia Reservoir through a contract with the local government. It subsequently established Qinghai Minze Longyangxia Ecological Aquaculture Co., Ltd. to manage rainbow trout farming in the area. On 3 May 2018, Securities Times reported that DunAn Group was facing a debt crisis. On 8 May of the same month, the Minze company completed an industrial and commercial registration change, and DunAn Group withdrew from the company.
Draft “Raw Salmon” industry standard The draft industry standard titled Raw Salmon was issued by the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance, an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China. The standard was jointly developed by 13 companies, at least eight of which were primarily engaged in rainbow trout aquaculture or related businesses. The draft stated that it defined terminology, requirements, inspection methods, labeling, packaging, transportation, and storage standards for raw salmon products. In Section 3.1, “salmon” was defined as a general term for fishes of the family Salmonidae, explicitly including Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, coho salmon, Chinook salmon, sockeye salmon, chum salmon, and pink salmon. Under this definition, rainbow trout was classified as a type of “raw salmon”. The standard also specified requirements for sensory qualities, physicochemical properties, contaminants, parasites, and testing procedures. It further required that product labels indicate the product name, species name, and place of origin, such as “salmon (Atlantic salmon)” or “salmon (rainbow trout)”.
Course of events Domestic salmon incident
On 22 May 2018, “Economic Half Hour”, a program on the Finance Channel of China Central Television, aired a special report titled “A New ‘Fresh’ Flavor Emerging from Technology”. The program reported on the use of fishery technology by Qinghai Minze Longyangxia Ecological Aquaculture Co., Ltd. to farm rainbow trout by taking advantage of the low water temperature and high water quality of the Longyangxia Reservoir. It also stated that nearly one-third of the “salmon” sold in mainland China originated from aquaculture in this reservoir. This event became known as the “domestic salmon” incident, also referred to as the “real vs. fake salmon” controversy.