A review of the authors’ own and published data proves lipids play an essential and critical role throughout salmon ontogeny, especially at its early stages, when an embryo is a closed system, occasionally exchanging the products of its metabolism with the environment. Lipids are both important structural components in building up larval tissues and utilized for its energy needs. It was shown that the level and the distribution of lipids in eggs and larvae are important indicators of the offspring viability, they ensure the activation of biochemical adaptation mechanisms in a changing environment.