Recently one of the members talked about salmon being her “treat”.   Salmon is an excellent source for protein, fat and many essential nutrients.  JUST MAKE SURE IT IS WILD.  If your are not aware of the difference please read.  There is a big difference and the benefits to your health between the two far outway the extra cost for farm-raised salmon.  When you eat out always ask if the salmon is wild or farmed raised and only eat it if you can get wild.  Even places like the  Buckhorn Grill give you the “Wild” Salmon option.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Wild Vs. Farmed Salmon Comparison (Paystolivegreen.com)

	Wild	Farm-Raised
Nutrition	Higher Ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 Fatty Acides	Lower levels of protein and much fattier
PCBs	Low levels	8 times as many PCBs
Coloration	Naturally orange or red because of diet	Given pigments to turn color of salmon from natural white
Disease	Contain low amounts of lice, disease and contaminations	High levels of disease, lice pesticides and given large amounts of antibiotics
Environmental	Populations killed off by escaped farmed fish	Excess waste and disease harm natural eco-system
Price	Slightly higher price	Cheaper because already in nets

Wild Salmon vs Farm Raised Salmon (healthcastle.com)

• David Suzuki Foundation: In January 2001, BBC News produced a program “Warnings from the Wild, The Price of Salmon”. The program cited a pilot study conducted by Dr Easton with David Suzuki Foundation. 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. It concluded that it seems that contamination in farm fish comes from the feed.
• EWG Report: In July 2003, the Environmental Working Group EWG released a report stating that farm raised salmon purchased in the United States contain the highest level of PCBs in the food supply system. In the report, EWG reported that 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. EWG recommends that consumers choose wild salmon instead of farm raised salmon, and they should eat an 8 oz serving of farm raised salmon no more than once a month.
• Science Journal: In January 2004, 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, perhaps every two months as they pose cancer risks to the human beings.

What are PCBs?

Polychlorinated biphenyls PCBs are mixtures of up to 209 individual chlorinated compounds (known as congeners). There are no known natural sources of PCBs. PCBs are either oily liquids or solids that are colorless to light yellow. PCBs have been used as coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors, and other electrical equipment because they don’t burn easily and are good insulators. The manufacture of PCBs was stopped in the U.S. in 1977 because of evidence they build up in the environment and can cause harmful health effects. However, PCBs persist in the environment. Fish absorb PCBs from contaminated sediments and from their food.

Choose Wild Over Farmed

Next time you go to buy salmon, make sure to check that you are buying wild salmon. It is overall just a healthier fish for you and far superior in terms of taste. There are just too many negatives against farmed salmon to make it not worth the slightly lower price. If more people demand wild salmon when buying it, it could start to eliminate many of these harmful salmon aquaculture farms.