Why You Should Eat Wild Alaskan Salmon and Not Farmed Salmon

Fresh wild Alaskan Salmon are some of the least tainted by methylmercury of all healthy food fish. Methylmercury is a form of mercury that is found in most fish, and exists in unhealhty high amounts in shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and some tuna.

There is no question salmon is one of the healthiest foods you can consume.Salmon contains two critical omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA, that your brain and heart need for optimal health as you age..

EPA fats are a godsend for your health. EPA fats promote normal cholesterol and triglyceride levels and improve your blood flow. A side benefit is their promotion of healthy skin and enhanced immune function.

In the wild, salmon absorb carotenoids from eating pink krill. On the aquafarm, their rich pink hue is supplied by canthaxanthin, a synthetic pigment manufactured by Hoffman-La Roche. Fish farmers can choose just what shade of peach their fish will display from the pharmaceutical company's trademarked SalmoFan, a color swatch similar to those you'd find in a paint store. Without help from Hoffman LaRoche, the flesh of farmed salmon would be a pale halibut grey.

Due to the feedlot conditions of aquafarming, farm-raised fish are doused with antibiotics and exposed to more concentrated pesticides than their wild kin. Farmed salmon, in addition, are given a salmon-colored dye in their feed, without which, their flesh would be an unappetizing grey color.

• The fat content of farmed salmon is excessively high--30-35% by weight.
• Wild salmon have a 20% higher protein content and a 20% lower fat content than farm-raised salmon.
• Farm-raised fish contain much higher amounts of pro-inflammatory omega 6 fats than wild fish.

Disease and parasites, which would normally exist in relatively low levels in fish scattered around the oceans, can run rampant in densely packed oceanic feedlots. To survive, farmed fish are vaccinated as small fry. Later, they are given antibiotics or pesticides to ward off infection.

Scientists in the United States are far more concerned about two preliminary studies-one in British Columbia and one in Great Britain-both of which showed farmed salmon accumulate more cancer-causing PCBs and toxic dioxins than wild salmon.

Flame-retardant additives used widely in electronics and furniture are appearing in increasing amounts in fish, and farmed salmon contain significantly higher levels of these polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) compounds than wild salmon, according to research published in the August 11, 2004 issue of Environmental Science and Technology.