National Norwegian Wild Salmon Centre in Lærdal

The life cycle of the salmon

Inside the exhibition, you can follow the salmon through its upbringing in the river, its migration out into the ocean, back into the fjord, and up its tributary until it meets the waterfall it cannot pass. What does the salmon encounter on its way? What has the salmon meant to us? What do we know about the state of the salmon's environment? How do humans affect the salmon's life before and now? What does the future look like?

The exhibition area

We use film, sound, large projections, and images. For those who want more information, we have interactive screens. There are quizzes and challenges for young and old. You can do it all in 20 minutes or spend the whole day.

We talk about:

• The salmon's wonderful life.
• The relationship between salmon and humans.
• The conflicts of interest related to salmon and their habitats.
• The salmon's ability to adapt and survive and how we manage it.
• The future - what does the future look like for salmon in light of climate change and human consumption of nature?

You get a deeper understanding of the salmon and its life within a larger framework. We want to open new perspectives as a basis for reflection, create a desire to know more, interest and enthusiasm to preserve the wild salmon and its habitats, and not least give the guest a good experience.

The Lærdal river

The large salmon and nature make the Lærdal river an attractive salmon river. Lærdal and the Sognefjorden have long, and strong traditions linked to salmon.

Atlantic wild salmon is a symbol associated with Norway, due to the clean water it’s living in, the active fishing in the rivers and fjords, and the sustainable salmon farming. Almost one-third of all the Atlantic salmon in the world are in Norwegian rivers.

The wild salmon’s development and future, all depend on how we preserve its natural habitat and the diversity of species in the same habitat in a sustainable way.