Which is Best Salmon to Eat -- Wild or Farmed Salmon?

The short answer is that wild salmon is better than farmed salmon to eat for your health. In particular wild Alaskan sockeye salmon is the best choice.

The Environmental Working Group says it most succinctly in its article titled "Wild Alaskan Salmon is Still the Best Choice" which says ...

"The bottom line is: eating wild salmon from Alaska is better for your health and the environment, for now anyway."

Dr. Andrew Weil concurs by saying ...

"stick to wild Alaskan salmon (which I still strongly recommend), sardines or distilled fish oil supplements for your omega-3 fatty acids."^[1]

Salmon is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acid that is good for your health.  

Wild salmon has less contaminates than farmed salmon.

Dr. Perricone says on page 60 of "The Perricone Prescription":

"EPA studies have shown Alaskan sockeye are among the purest fish ever tested." ^[2]

Plus the wild Alaskan salmon is eco-friendly to eat. Dr. Perricone says "Wild Alaskan sockeye salmon are one of the most abunant and treasured of the wild Pacific salmon species."[p59] The Environmental Defense Fund labeled it as "Safe of the environment - enjoy often!"

But not too often. As with all salmon, there is a certainly level of PCB contaminates in them. The Environmental Defense Fund says "Kids up to age 6 should eat no more than 3 meals per month".^[3]

Farmed salmon has even more PCB toxins than wild salmon due to the PCB in the feed that is fed to the farmed salmon. PCB, polychlorinated biphenyl, is an industrial pollutant and toxin that persists in the environment and has the potential to cause cancer.

Quoted directly from the Environmental Working Group news release, it says ...

"Analysis of Fish Consumption Data Shows 800,000 U.S. Adults Eat Enough PCBs From Farmed Salmon to Exceed Allowable Lifetime Cancer Risk 100 Times Over"[8]

and it makes the following recommendations to consumers...

"EWG recommends that consumers choose wild instead of farmed salmon, and they should eat an eight-ounce serving of farmed salmon no more than once a month. Consumers should also trim fat from the fish before cooking - and choose broiling, baking, or grilling over frying, as these cooking methods allow the PCB-laden fat to cook off the fish."[8]

Wild salmon does not have as much PCB contaminate because they swim long distances and are much leaner. Alaskan sockeye do not accumulate as much PCB because they only live about four years and have a mostly vegetarian diet consisting of marine algae, zooplankton, and krill.^[2]

Farmed salmon are intentionally fattened and are confined in small areas where they can not get exercise.

HealthCastle.com provides statistics on the fact that farmed salmon has much higher levels of PCB toxin than wild salmon:

"The study found that farm raised salmon and the feed they were fed appeared to have a much higher level of contamination with respect to PCBs, organo-chlorine pesticides and polybrominated diphenyl ethers than did wild salmon."[4]

and ...

"farm raised salmon have 16 times PCBs found in wild salmon, 4 times the levels in beef, and 3.4 times the levels in other seafood."[4]

and ...

" the journal Science warned that farm raised salmon contain 10 times more toxins (PCBs, dioxin, etc.) than wild salmon. The study recommends that farm raised salmon should be eaten once a month"[4]

Page 190 of Beautiful Brain, Beautiful You says ...

"There is much concern about contaminants in fish such as PCBs and mercury, but the benefits still outweigh the risks as long as you follow the FDA guidelines."

It say that shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish are common fish that are low in mercury.

On page 186 it also says...

"When it comes to brain boosters, fish is the best.  It truly is brain food. ...  The best brain-boosting fish to choose from include cold water fatty fish such as salmon, bluefish, herring, sardines, mackerel, tuna, and trout. Wild caught is better than farm raised."

Because of the crowded farmed conditions, sea lice and parasites from the farms can reach the wild salmon and decrease overall salmon population. This also causes the farms to have to use antibiotics, pesticides, and fungicides. Not to mention the large amount of wastes from the farms that can settle on ocean floor and become a detriment to the environment.[7]

To see learn more about farmed salmon, watch the videos on seabeef.com linked here.

Wild Alaskan sockeye has a deep red color that is maintained even when cooked. Dr. Perricone says "Without additives, the flsh of farm-raised salmon would not have the familiar pink color but would be gray."[p56]   

Chef2Chef.com also concurs by saying that artificial dyes may be used to turn the flesh of farmed salmon pink.

If there are white lines of fat, then most likely it is farmed salmon.

If the salmon is labeled "Atlantic", then it is farmed. That is because there is not much wild Atlantic salmon out there. They are nearly extinct and are not available commercially.

If the salmon is labeled "Alaskan", then it is wild. That is because fish farming is illegal in Alaska.

Wild salmon are usually not caught in the winter time. So if you are eating "fresh" salmon (meaning not frozen or canned), then it most likely is farmed.

Canned salmon can be wild. In fact, Dr. Weil says ...

"If wild Alaskan salmon is too pricey for your food budget, you can buy canned sockeye (red) salmon in the supermarket; it's all wild. It will give you the same omega-3 fatty acids found in fresh or frozen Alaskan wild salmon."[6]

What about in restaurants when the menu just says "salmon". Is that farmed salmon or wild salmon?

If a salmon is not labelled as "wild" or "Alaskan", then you can often assume it is farmed. Afterall farmed salmon is less expensive. And if they are using the expensive good stuff (the wild salmon), one would assume that they would advertise it as such.

But beware, it is possible that some may advertise "wild salmon", but for some reason serve you farmed salmon. See blog by Catskill Maison.

Of course, there are some good honest chefs that will only server wild salmon. For example, Marcus Guiliano says ...

"My Restaurant Will Never Serve Atlantic Salmon. It’s farmed salmon, and that’s unhealthy salmon. It’s caged, it’s fed dye and anti-biotics. I will never use it." [source]

Recall that "Atlantic" salmon is synonymous to farmed salmon.

Of course, you can always ask if the salmon in the restaurant is wild or farmed. But some waiters do not know as they do not source the food. Article on Chow.com writes the following ...

"Let’s face it: At some restaurants, there’s clearly no point in asking, because you pretty much already know the answer. (If it’s a budget place and the menu doesn’t list the origin of a single ingredient, you can assume that the salmon is farmed ..."

While the information presented may sound scary. You should not be dissuaded from eating fish (even farmed fished).

Doctor Sanjiv Chopra, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, wrote the book Doctor Chopra Says: Medical Facts and Myths Everyone Should Know published in 2010 saying ...

“based on the amount of mercury currently found in fish it would be very difficult for anyone to eat enough of it to be at risk for mercury poisoning." [page 47]

Although he admits that fish does contain mercury, PCBs, and dioxins, he says ...

" … the decreased risk of heart disease gained from eating fish more than offsets any potential increased risk of mortality from mercury poisoning, cancer, or other ailments.” [page 48]

So in general, you should still eat fish — a moderate amount. He says about twice a week. Unless you are pregnant, nursing, or a young child, in which case you want to avoid those fish that are high in mercury.

As a general rule of thumb, smaller fish that can fit within your frying pan will have less mercury. Fish that tend to have lower mercury are store-bought farm-raised catfish, wild salmon, pollock, shrimp, scallops, and tilapia. [reference: page 49,50]

Avoid deep fried fish from restaurants which has less of the beneficial omega-3.

The benefit of eating fish (including farmed fish) and the omega-3 that it confers outweighs any risk. Reader Digest Your Health, What Works, What Doesn't reports on two Harvard researchers that combed through stacks of documents and studies to the following conclusion:

"The bottom line: Eating fish far outweighs any accompanying risks."[page 124]

And here is what Dr. Mark Hyman says about fish in his article "Wild Fish? Farmed Fish? What Should I Eat?":

"When possible, eat fish either farmed or caught with sustainable, restorative, regenerative practices. ... warning about farmed salmon is only relevant to “feedlot fish” — not sustainably raised salmon ... Omega-3 fats are essential for the functioning of every cell in your body and 90 percent of us do not consume enough of them."

In addition, fish helps fight depression and inflammation as well.