Wild-caught vs. farm-raised salmon: Which to buy?

From | March 10, 2010
In Healthy Living
Featured Recipe: Garlic Roasted Salmon with Two-Cheese Polenta

One of our more confusing food choices is whether to buy farmed or wild-caught salmon. Environmental issues come into play, as do health benefits. Wild-caught salmon has a higher and more potent form of Omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for your heart and why you’re urged to eat fatty fish three times a week.

Salmon that is farmed in ocean pens, (as opposed to tanks on land), often harm the environment.

So what is a responsible cook to choose? We like the advice from the Seafood Watch list of the Monterey Bay Acquarium in California (click here) to either buy wild-caught Alaska salmon or U.S. tank-raised Coho or Silver salmon. The only problem is finding a store that labels the fish that carefully!

Also, the Rodale company, (publisher of several health magazines and cookbooks), has a helpful article weighing the pros and cons of all farm-raised vs. wild fish on its Web site (click here). An Alaskan commercial fishery, called Triad Fisheries, has a video of how its wild salmon is caught (click here). Also, Mark Tupper, president of the company, said salmon that's flash-frozen at sea and glazed with ice, just after being caught, is the best way to get a fresh-tasting fish.

"The finest seafood restaurants around the world wouldn’t dream of serving (salmon) that hasn’t at one point been frozen, a fact that most consumers find surprising,” Tupper says.

We’ve been pretty clear in the past that we prefer the flavor of the more fatty farm-raised salmon, but it seems that we’re going to have to change our supplier from our regular supermarket (no origin or species specified) to the pricier specialty markets, such as Whole Foods.

What’s your position on which salmon to buy?

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Comments

From Mary Cail - March 10, 2010

I'm always confused about this choice. Thanks for the clear information!

From Richard Pachter - March 10, 2010

I don't buy that farm-raised crap. Period. Penn-Dutch has the wild stuff several times a year and that works just fine for me. (Hi, Bev! oxoxoxo)

From Beverly Mills - March 10, 2010

Hi Richard! How do you cook the wild salmon to make it taste less "lean"? Or does it bother you?

From Beverly Mills - March 10, 2010

From Sonia Martinez, via Facebook: I attended a 'salmon workshop' presented by Seattle Chef Tom Douglas a couple of years ago and these are my observations from tasting both farm-raised and wid salmon: From an article (written by me) for The Hawaii Island Journal (4/08) Farm-raised salmon is fattier due to their diet and being in captivity, which did not give them much space to exercise. Wild salmon contains less fat since they can swim and feed by foraging for what they can find. When tasting, we both (my son and I) agreed that the wild salmon was flakier and had a lighter consistency, whereas we found the farm-raised a bit ‘mushier’, yet many of the students preferred the ‘mouth feel’ of the farm-raised fish.

From Betsy - March 10, 2010

If you have allergies or any type of inflammatory health issues (arthritis, fibromyalgia, kidney stones, etc) wild caught is the only way to go. Wild caught salmon (& mackerel) are the two most anti-inflammatory fatty fish. The farmed fish are not only raised in pens, with limited exercise & sometimes more polution, but are fed an artificial diet, heavy on grain. Grain is INFLAMMATORY & negates much of the health benefits, which were based on the wild caught type fish. You may find articles in the Inflammatory Free Diet (book) by Monica Reinagel helpful. It give the inflammatory ratings on tons of food & recipes to help you eat in a more healthful manner. Some of the recipes (like that for Grecian kale soup) can even be used if you have dogs with allergies. (Dr. Gale Bowman, DVM) highly recommends both the book & the more healthful lifestyle.

From Beverly Mills - March 11, 2010

Ladies, I don't know if you have been in my market/restaurant before, Rex's Seafood on Lovers Lane in Dallas. But, I just wanted to thank you personally in your salmon article/recipe for mentioning that both wild and farmed salmon have health benefits. I fight the farmed salmon battle over and over every day with customers because of erroneous articles they read. You were right on the money with the taste differences between the two. Hopefully a few people caught that bit in your article and will make my job a little easier !!! I carry the best and freshest seafood in Dallas !! Good article and recipe !! Rex Bellomy owner Rex's Seafood

From Beverly Mills - March 11, 2010

More from Sonia Martinez: I could really taste the difference and the consistency and mouth feel, in our opinion, was much better in the wild than the farm-raised. I love salmon and we eat it at least 2-3 times a month. My first day of Spring meal is usually salmon, fresh asparagus, new potatoes and a garden salad of some kind....

From Beverly Mills - March 11, 2010

From A. Furr, via Facebook: I almost gave up eating Salmon because I was always buying wild salmon, and it always had a fishy taste. After reading your story I will now start buying farm raised salmon.

From Richard Pachter - March 11, 2010

Bev: I usually buy a whole fish and have it cut up. And I generally don't mind the taste. If I did, I'd just have something flavorless like Tilapia. Or Wonder Bread. Seasoning: Salt, pepper, a little olive oil and dill. Voila! A little garlic powder, too, sometimes. Nothing fancy required. NB: If any fish tastes "fishy," it's not fresh. Duh!

From Beverly Mills - March 11, 2010

Thanks for your help Richard!

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