Thiamine, also known as vitamin B1, is critical for salmon health. Juvenile fish can die without enough of the nutrient. Researchers have known salmon’s ocean diet impacts their thiamine levels. Scientists at Oregon State University have called “thiamine deficiency complex” a growing threat. For example, a diet rich in anchovies rather than sardines can lead to a deficiency. But for the first time, scientists have measured the vitamin’s availability in freshwater rivers where the fish deposit eggs.

Related articles: 

• Forbes: A river’s microbiome may protect wild salmon against malnutrition
• Comstock’s Magazine: The Delta in Decline