Farmed-raised salmon are a healthy option

CNN.com Health

Submitted January 11, 2010

RE: Is farm-raised salmon as healthy as wild?

In responding to a reader’s concerns about the health attributes of eating farmed vs. wild salmon, Dr. Melina correctly points out the American Heart Association recommends eating oily fish (such as salmon) at least twice a week.

Unfortunately, Dr. Melina quotes the Environmental Working Group, which sensationally alleges farmed salmon are “polluted with toxic PCB chemicals, awash in excrement flushed out to sea and infused with antibiotics.” While trace amounts of PCBs are present in the most common foods we eat, the good news is that PCB levels in both wild and farmed salmon are well below the 2,000 parts per billion safety threshold set by both the US Food and Drug Administration and Canadian Food Inspection Agency. To put the issue into perspective, PCB levels in beef are about eight times higher. Salmon farms can only be sited in areas where water currents provide optimal conditions for fish health and environmental sustainability. Salmon smolts (babies) are often individually vaccinated, which greatly reduces the incidence of disease in the net pens – and results in a reduced use of antibiotics.  In fact, farmed salmon commonly grow to maturity without any use of antibiotics during their lives. Antibiotic use on salmon farms is now far lower than that of any other agricultural animal producing industry in the world.

Misguided opposition to farmed salmon will sadly scare people away from this healthy, affordable and delicious protein that helps take the pressure off our depleted oceans.

Ruth Salmon
Executive Director
Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance
www.Aquaculture.ca