| MYTH #1 |
Farmed salmon are less nutritious than their wild counterparts. Farmed salmon have higher unhealthy fat content and contain lower levels of beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids than wild salmon.
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| The Facts: |
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Claims by activists that farmed salmon are less healthy than wild salmon are completely false. In fact, in many cases, the opposite is true: |
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According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), farmed salmon have higher levels of beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids than all five species of wild Pacific salmon. Omega 3 fatty acids are one of the most beneficial nutrients we can eat. They are proven to reduce risk of heart disease. This is why salmon farmers choose a diet for their fish that results in high levels of Omega 3 fatty acid in their flesh. |
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The USDA data also shows that wild Chinook salmon – the species with which farmed salmon is most comparable anatomically – contains significantly higher levels of unhealthy saturated fatty acids, significantly lower levels of healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids and lower levels of beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids than do farmed salmon. |
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| MYTH #2 |
Farmed salmon are frequently fed antibiotics that contribute to the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Farmed salmon are fed more antibiotics per pound, than any other livestock in North America.
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| The Facts: |
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This is absolutely untrue. Antibiotics are used far less intensively in aquaculture than in land-based meat producing industries. |
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The use of medicine in animal husbandry is a standard part of modern veterinary practice. To suggest that there is something wrong with treating livestock with medication is as ludicrous as suggesting that humans should give up modern medicine. |
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What activists characterize as the “frequent” use of antibiotics is actually a specialized, controlled and limited program of use that has led to a tremendous decline in the amount of antibiotics used in aquaculture. Only 3 per cent of feed provided to farmed salmon is medicated – hardly a “frequent” occurrence. |
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This trend toward the reduced use of antibiotics is attributable to:
Better husbandry techniques (more space, better nutrition etc);
The use of more effective, targeted antibiotics that require less drug per treatment; and
The development and increased availability of fish vaccines
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The BC salmon farming industry is heavily regulated by government agencies, including the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The fish produced by the industry are approved as safe for human consumption only after rigorous government testing and analysis. |
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If fish are subject to targeted and limited antibiotic treatments, they can only be harvested after regulated “clearance periods” that ensure there are zero residues in any fish product delivered to the market. |
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| MYTH #3 |
Farmed salmon are often given chemical additives in their food to colour their flesh pink like their wild counterparts.
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| The Facts: |
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Activists make it sound as if the aquaculture industry is feeding farmed fish chemicals that may be harmful to human health for the sole purpose of ‘colouring’ the fish. This is not true: |
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Both wild and farmed salmon get their colour from carotenoids, in particular astaxanthin and canthaxanthin, both of which are naturally occurring substances. |
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Carotenoids are vital nutrients for many species, including humans. They protect against damaging reactions in the body and some serve as a source of Vitamin A. Salmon that are not given these carotenoids suffer from slow growth and poor health. |
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In humans, consistent scientific evidence points to an association between the intake of the carotenoid, beta-carotene, and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer. Higher intakes of carotenoids have also been shown to reduce the risk of age-related diseases, including prostate cancer, macular degeneration and cataracts. |
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Fish such as salmon and trout require carotenoids for healthy growth, metabolism and reproduction. Since their bodies cannot produce them, these fish must acquire them by eating small algae-eating crustaceans such as shrimp. |
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This process is replicated in salmon farms by adding carotenoids to the diet of the fish. These carotenoids ensure good health and reproduction in farmed fish, as well as proper skin and flesh colour. So it is not as if pigments are added to the salmon during processing as they are with many other prepared foods. The pigment is simply a normal part of a salmon’s diet – one that happens to impart colour to the flesh. |
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The carotenoid astaxanthin is commonly added to the diet of hatchery-reared smolts in the wild fisheries – including hatcheries within the Alaska wild salmon fisheries. Alaska wild salmon have recently been designated ‘organic’ by the US government. |
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Calling astaxanthin a “chemical additive” is the same as if the addition of Vitamin C to orange juice were called a “chemical additive”. Astaxanthin is a nutrient, and should not be given a negative label. |
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| MYTH #4 |
Preliminary research indicates farmed salmon have up to 10 times more PCBs and dioxins than do wild salmon.
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| The Facts: |
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As with most of their claims, this one is also false. Extensive analysis shows that all meat products, including both wild and farmed fish, contain minute traces of dioxin. Dioxin occurs naturally as well as being produced by various manufacturing processes, and is therefore almost universal in the environment. Recent tests of farmed salmon from BC show that it is actually lower in dioxin than many species of wild fish. |
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Testing of farmed Atlantic salmon by the Norwegian Institute of Nutrition, Directorate of Fisheries, confirms these finding for salmon grown in Norway. They have similar levels of dioxin as wild fish and shellfish. |
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The same results have been found for PCBs in wild and farmed fish. Minute traces of PCBs occur in both wild and farmed salmon, but there is no pattern of one being higher than the other. |
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Most important, the levels of dioxin and PCBs in both wild and farmed fish are far below levels considered harmful by health authorities, ranging between 1-3% of the maximum tolerable levels. The positive benefits of eating fish, both wild and farmed, far outweigh any perceived risk from environmental contaminants. |
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