Farmed fish fumble - Letter to the Editor

Natural Health, August, 2003 by Bill Caradonna

Natural Health provided a great service for its readers by identifying which fish supply the best heart-health benefits ("How to Shop for the Best Heart-Healthy Fish," May/June 2003). Unfortunately, the author stumbled--no, fell flat on her face--when recommending fish-farmed salmon. The potential concerns she listed were completely insufficient. Identifying progressive fish-farm-source salmon still fails to deal with many issues. Farmed salmon may have the most total fat, but this does not translate to more beneficial omega-3s, as the author incorrectly stated. In fact, farmed fish can have significantly lower levels. What makes the oils healthy in the wild fish is consumption of micro algae. This is also the source of the pink color. Farmed salmon feed does not provide this, and fish are actually given dye in their food to create the color we expect. Who wants to eat gray salmon?

Bill Caradonna, N.D.

Seattle, Wash.

Cheryl Redmond responds: Both wild salmon and farmed salmon get omega-3 fats through their diets, and opposing claims are made for the omega-3 content of each type of fish. I used the USDA's National Nutrient Database as my source for the omega-3 content of all the fish discussed in my article. You can access this information at www.nal.usda.gov.

Your concerns over the environmental impact of salmon farming are valid. During the course of my research, I spoke to representatives of environmental groups and the salmon farming industry and they agree on the need to make fish farming sustainable in every sense of the word. This very important issue was, however, outside the scope of my article, which dealt strictly with the nutritional effects of consumption of various kinds of fish.