Safety, Price Govern Choice of Farmed or Wild

The Arizona Republic, Karen Fernau
Published September 18, 2007

Farmed or wild? This is the choice facing today's salmon consumers. Although there's no clear-cut answer, the differences between salmon harvested from ocean farms and those caught in the wild are significant. Consider these pros and cons before buying your next salmon meal: * Wild salmon is generally cleaner but pricier than that raised in pens off coastlines. * Farmed salmon sells for as low as $3.99 a pound, compared with wild salmon, which costs between $9 and $20 a pound. * All salmon contain polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, and pesticides, which collect mainly in the skin. None of the levels exceeds the safety standards set in 1984 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for commercial fish. Wild fish get the contaminants from pollution in the water. Farmed salmon get them because they are fed with small, oily fish that come from areas contaminated with PCBs, harmful industrial chemicals that have been banned since the 1970s but persist in the environment. * Farmed salmon, which account for nearly 60 percent of salmon sold in U.S. supermarkets and restaurants, contain a higher level of cancer-causing chemicals than do wild salmon. The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research organization, found in 2003 that farmedsalmon contain seven times more PCBs. * Wild salmon get their omega 3s and rich color from eating sea organisms, while farmed salmon get theirs from supplements and dye in their feed. * Farming makes fresh salmon available year-round, but wild salmon has a season. Through August, Chinook, sockeye, coho, chum and steelhead varieties are available fresh. Limited supplies of frozen are available the remainder of the year. Despite the differences, experts agree that the health benefits of any salmon outweigh the risks. Salmon is valued for its high level of fatty acids, which are good for the heart and brain, and because it has relatively low levels of mercury. "I tell people to buy as responsibly as they can afford. I think wild is better tasting, better for you and an environmentally sound choice, but if you can't afford wild, farmed salmon is OK," says Diane Morgan, author of "Salmon: A Cookbook."