Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Nutritionally speaking, is farmed salmon that bad? It seems that even the omega 3:6 ratio of farm raised salmon is actually really good (2:1 respectively). I just ask the question because sometimes I really prefer farm raised as far as palatability goes.

flag	asked Dec 29 2011 at 18:21 Mike 301●3●8

Great question- I prefer the taste of farmed over sockeye, myself. – Jules K Dec 29 2011 at 18:25

Thumper · Answer 1 · 2011-12-29 19:06:00Z UTC

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Farmed salmon is destroying the wild salmon stocks on the west coast of North America. There are some on-shore fully contained farms but they are in the minority.

Nutritionally speaking I wouldn't worry so much about the O3:O6 ratio, I would worry about all the crap they add to the feed so that the flesh is red and tasty.

Please don't support farmed salmon.

answered Dec 29 2011 at 19:06

Thumper
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Well said. I don't touch the stuff. In fact, I recently walked out on a restaurant that touted itself as serving wild caught but something made me ask before ordering and they admitted that at lunch they served farmed salmon. We walked. I give them props for honesty though. – Shari Bambino Dec 29 2011 at 19:12

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YES. Farmed salmon may very well destroy the local stocks in my area. Protect the Alaskan salmon, the various runs in the Salish Sea, and elsewhere - and DO NOT SUPPORT such an ecological nightmare. – syrahna Dec 29 2011 at 19:26

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Is wild salmon really that expensive? I get my weekly supply at Trade Joes for $5.99 a pack. You don't need a TON of DHA, so as far as I'm concerned that's enough for me. – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Dec 29 2011 at 21:38

My dad gets his salmon for free from Lake Michigan, but I worry about pollution. – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Dec 29 2011 at 21:39

+1 I agree. I avoid farmed salmon as well. – Wcc Kamal Stabby fan Feb 2 2012 at 17:05

jesuisjuba - paleorepublic.com · Answer 2 · 2011-12-29 19:28:22Z UTC

A few things to think about: six ounces of East Coast Atlantic salmon has more DHA and EPA Omega-3 fatty acids than the same weight of wild salmon. BUT farmed salmon has the highest levels of PCBs - toxic man-made chemicals. So it boils down to that the health benefits of both farmed and wild salmon exceed potential risks due to the Omega 3's. There are some farmed fish produced in environmentally friendly situations but there are aslo those that are getting antibiotics among other things they shouldn't

Nerd alert: Did you know that to produce one farmed salmon, you have to feed it more than its weight in smaller fish? So..

Have you considered eating smaller fish - anchovies, mackerel and sardines? They live shorter lives and don't have as much opportunity as the larger fish to pick up toxics. Also, since they are lower on the food chain, they are a more sustainable choice.

For me? Wild only or the smaller buddies.

Travis Culp · Answer 3 · 2011-12-29 19:14:36Z UTC

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Yes, yes it is.

http://www.ewg.org/reports/farmedpcbs

answered Dec 29 2011 at 19:14

Travis Culp♦
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mmm...cancer risk increase...mmm – Futureboy Dec 29 2011 at 19:26

raydawg · Answer 4 · 2011-12-29 19:09:25Z UTC

Also keep in mind that there's new GMO salmon out now where they've inserted extra growth hormone gene copies. Do you really want to eat fish growth hormones, or the flesh of fish that have been fed GMO soy, GMO corn, antibiotics, and other crap?

eric · Answer 5 · 2011-12-29 19:52:31Z UTC

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I try to avoid farmed salmon, which means that I have to trust in the labels on the product.

answered Dec 29 2011 at 19:52

eric
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Knarf · Answer 6 · 2011-12-29 21:31:07Z UTC

We all have to try our best to support wild-caught seafood, analogous to grass-fed/pasture raised animals. If I remember anything from all the Paleo readings/blogs/research, it's food quality first.

Farmed salmon also have the opportunity to escape. One could even say there's technically not even "wild" salmon anymore, due to contamination/pollution from so-called "closed" farm environments.

Do your best though, farmed salmon, in my opinion shouldn't be consumed frequently!

henny · Answer 7 · 2011-12-29 22:32:59Z UTC

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What Bree said. And if you try a taste test with both farmed and wild salmon you should notice the difference in taste and texture which is far superior in the wild fish.

And I don't want to eat recycled chicken feathers.

answered Dec 29 2011 at 22:32

henny

Salmon are carnivores. No one has successfully farmed a carnivore. A terrestrial equivalent would feed chickens to dogs and eat the dog. The underlying equation in farming carnivores is a net loss in protein, and would not be profitable if full price is paid for the feed. Salmon farming takes two - five pounds of wild fish to produce one pound of farm salmon. This represents a net global protein loss as most of the fish used to make pellets are high quality food fit for human consumption. – henny Dec 29 2011 at 22:39

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In 1999, 189,000 tons of Chilean whiting was sold to the make fish farm pellets for $12.9 million, when it could have produced $102.9 million if sold for human consumption. – henny Dec 29 2011 at 22:39

Above quote from raincoastresearch.org/salmon-farming.htm – henny Dec 29 2011 at 22:39

Nance · Answer 8 · 2011-12-29 18:37:08Z UTC

I think the concerns center around feed-lot-type disease, what they're eating and what they're doing to surrounding environments. Other than that, they're fine. :-))

Mark Sisson approves of at least one brand of farmed salmon

Dr Kurt Harris mentions only non-farmed salmon.

Eric · Answer 9 · 2011-12-29 19:41:15Z UTC

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I can no longer eat farmed salmon. It tastes bad to me.

answered Dec 29 2011 at 19:41

Eric
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Is farm raised salmon really that bad?

9 Answers