Monday, March 21, 2011

Wild-Caught vs. Farm-Raised Salmon

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I worked (as usual) and am off today. Guess what I'm doing??!! Getting my hair highlighted! Can you believe I've never colored my hair, not even highlights? My hair is just so naturally dry that I've always been scared to get it colored, but I was recently talked into it but a stylist. She was a great saleswomen.

Before I leave to get my hair done, I thought I'd post about a topic that is brought up quite often these days. One of the many questions I get, over and over again, is this; "Is wild salmon really that much better for you than farm-raised?"

You be the judge;

The chart above was taken from the World's Healthiest Foods website. It looks at fish, in general, not just salmon, but as you can see farm-raised fish have a lower ratio of omega-3 fatty acids to omega-6 fatty acids. What does this mean? Basically the lower the ratio of omega-3, compared to omega-6, the less bioavailable the omega-3. This isn't good! We need those omega-3s to protect our brains, our eyes, our heart, heck...our entire bodies! When a food has more omega-6 the anti-inflammatory properties of omega-3 are masked.

Check out the two salmon fillets below. Which one do you think is the wild and which one is the farm-raised?


If you guessed the one on the right is farm-raised, you are correct. How can you tell? The one on the right has larger streaks of fat. When salmon are enclosed and not able to swim freely, they get fat, hence the larger streaks of fat. One might think this means the farm-raised salmon has more omega-3 fat, but in fact it has more omega-6 fat. You will also notice the difference in color. The one on the right looks like a perfect shade of "salmon"....right?! Almost fake. That's because, it is (see below).


Source: iStockPhoto

The World's Healthiest Foods website has a great article about the benefits of wild-caught fish. Among some of the benefits of wild-caught fish include;

  • More bioavailable omega-3
  • Less pesticides and antibiotics (especially carcinogenic PCBs)
  • No artificial coloring to make the fish more pink
  • Better for the environment
QUESTION: Do you like salmon? Do you buy farm-raised or wild?

I actually buy both. I know I just posted all about of the benefits of wild-caught fish and the problems with farm-raised, but to be honest I can't afford wild-caught fish/salmon all the time! I eat salmon twice a week, and until I have kids, get pregnant or start making more money I will only buy wild-caught every other time. I do buy my fish from a reputable grocery store/source, not just from anywhere, so that's good enough for me. Plus I take omega-3 in the form of a fish oil supplement to make up for that extra omega-6 in the farm-raised salmon :)

Erin from The Healthy Apron posted about a website called Clean Fish, which promotes the sales of the best in-season, clean and safe fish! Check it out, it's pretty neat.

30 comments :

  1. Great, useful post. I love the side by side comparison of actual fish. Though I knew about omega 3's and 6's didn't think about containment and farmed being "fattier" maybe that can convert skeptics. The food coloring/dyes often used in farmed fish make it a no-no for my kids though I eat farmed when I'm at a restaurant/don't have a choice.

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  2. Man... I really should spulrge for the wild huh? I am so resistant to this because the price difference is SO big. However... my health is at stake! I'll try and every other method like you for now!

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  3. wow, I never knew all this - thanks for sharing!

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  4. I was just reading some information along these lines this weekend. I love being able to see the info all together in one place. I don't currently eat fish, but have been thinking about re-incorporating it into my diet.

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  5. I bought wild catch salmon once and it was disappointing in term of taste nd texture because it's fat content is much lower thn farm raised. So bad to know that it was the bad fat. :(

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  6. Awesome info! Why no frozen fish ever?

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  7. Once I found out that canned salmon is generally wild salmon, I mostly go with that.

    Canned requires a different approach than a fillet (I just mix mine in my lunch salad), but it's an option to get omega 3s at a reasonable price point!

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  8. I just read a book (Eating Animals, Safran-Foer) that talked a lot about the ethics of fishing, and that there is a lot of bycatch or fish that is caught and dies and is returned to the ocean in the process. I'm trying to be more ethical about my eating choices, so fish is one thing that I'm trying to be more informed about. It sounds like the Clean Fish website might help with this...thanks for the link!

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  9. Less pesticides and antibiotics (especially carcinogenic PCBs)--I think that bullet point is key. I don't like to think about the fact that fish need to be given artificial treatment/supplements because they aren't living in their natural environment, but are rather confined to dirtier, smaller areas. Similarly to you though, I don't buy wild salmon every time, but I try to as much as possible. You can definitely notice that the farmed-raised is fattier though...makes for a moister salmon, but it's worth the sacrifice, and will be every time once I make enough money to always buy wild...which hopefully is in my future plans, hah.

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  10. I am so glad you posted this---I'm actually talking about this topic in my nutrition class in an hour....and I'm totally going to give them the resource!

    I try to buy wild caught exclusively, but the price is definitely sometimes prohibitive...so I just don't eat it as often as I'd like, and get my omega 3s elsewhere :)

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  11. loved this! i explained the same thing to my hubby a couple of years ago and now we try to buy wild as often as possible. but i know what you mean about the cost! alternating is a good idea.

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  12. Thanks for sharing this information. I only eat wild caught salmon because I have heard numerous experts talk about how the negative effects of farmed salmon outweigh the positive effects. I don't eat fish THAT often, so when I do, I have no problem splurging! I love the picture of the two salmons side by side. The amount of fat on the farmed one makes me want to eat only wild even more!

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  13. I very rarely buy actual salmon fillets - I usually buy canned salmon and it is always wild.

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  14. awesome article! I always buy wild salmon. Never farm raised. Its jsut something Ive always looked for. I try to keep updated with what types of fish to buy so I look at the Montery bay Aquarium website for info. Thanks for the cool info!

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  15. Salmon is not big here but they have it and I wonder if it is wild caught. If it was farmed it would be imported from somewhere else because they have no farmed fisheries here, just local fisherman who go out on their boats. Almost all fish is fresh here, and some is fresh caught in the ocean and frozen to keep it longer. As for buying in the store, I only have 1 kind available at the commissary and I am almost certain it is farmed. Right now I don;t eat it often, but I think I would do like you and alternate.

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  16. Great post! I switched to wild salmon when I was pregnant with the toddler. Before that, I alternated like you. I usually grill some salmon for dinner one night per week, and I use wild canned salmon to add to salads at least once or twice per week.

    We reduced our meat consumption a lot in the past few years, and now only buy organic, grass-fed beef and wild seafood. Since we buy not a lot, I don't think we spend a lot more than we used to when we ate more meat. Eating a lot of rice, beans, and seasonal veggies also helps keep the food budget down.

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  17. Thanks for the mention Gina! I actually drove to ann arbor this weekend to pick up "Clean Fish" salmon from The Plum Market (the closest store that offers Clean Fish to my town). It was $15.99, farm raised and VERY pink and Fatty! Delicious yes but I'm kind of curious about the omega 3 vs omega 6 ratio in the clean fish product. Perhaps I will have to dig a littler deeper for this info...interesting!

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  18. This is a very interesting post, especially the pictures of the wild vs. farm-raised. The difference in color is crazy. Are those fish from the same kind of salmon? I'm not sure if that makes a difference but I'm just curious. I've been trying to cut down my fish consumption since quitting meat - maybe I can afford to pay for the wild-caught fish. Definitely has me thinking! Thanks for the great read!

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  19. dude this was a GREAT post! haha i loved the fun fact about the salmon stripes so much so that i shared the fun fact with deejy and she gave me the head nod of "wow thats interesting and i'm definitely going to look out for that in the future." hahaha <3 you girl!

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  20. I always look at the color difference when I buy it at the store. It's crazy how much more bright wild salmon is.

    I try to buy only wild caught salmon but you're righ, it's expensive. Sometimes I go with farmed because I figure having the salmon at least once a week is better than no salmon at all. Plus it's so tasty :)

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  21. Thanks for the post - it was very informative. The farm-raised salmon I bought last week looked just like your pic on the right and it was very greasy. I ended-up giving most of it to the dog.

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  22. yay for getting your hair done gina! how fun and cute that you have never colored it....hope you like the outcome. i love salmon and know wild is better but sometimes i buy farm raised cuz it tastes better-more buttery to me.....

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  23. AWESOME post! I had no idea.. whoops!!

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  24. OMG! I love salmon and I often buy it at the supermarket but I had no idea those "wide streaks" were accumulated fat...you OPENNED MY EYES! Thank you. This post will help me make MUCH better choices in the future. Thats why I love your blog so much, I learn so many things.

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  25. Wow, thank you so much for the incredibly vivid side-by-side comparison! I didn't realize the difference was so dramatic... I'm in the same situation as you describe, though - I alternate between farm raised and wild caught fish for financial reasons, and am thankful for those good Omega-3 fish supplements! :-)

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  26. It is sooo much more expensive :( Such a bummer. I did guess the farm raised one, though. I think that to myself when I'm choosing fish -- the farmed always "looks" better. Kroger has their store brand of wild caught (frozen) now, and that's helpful. It's a lot cheaper than wild and fresh. We need to eat more salmon. We probably only have it 2x/month. We definitely eat it more in the summer because we like it grilled on a wood plank with a squeeze of lemon juice. Ahh...so yum!!

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  27. I love salmon and to be honest, I've never really looked to see whether it's farm raised of wild. I think i'll be paying more attention after reading this post, though!

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  30. I think your article has been written with the best intentions however, you are confusing "wild" salmon with "wild-caught" salmon. Wild caught salmon are spawned in hatcheries and can spend up to half their life-cycle in confinement. They are not truly wild and this is why they are not labelled as such. To complicate things further, these "wild caught" salmon are released into the wild and are virtually indistinguishable ffrom ruly wild salmon so the "wild" salmon that is caught by fisherman and sold as "wild" a about a 1/3 chance of being mislabelled as "wild" when it is actually "wild caught". I hope that clarifies things.

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