The Salmon on Your Plate Has a Troubling Cost. These Farms Offer Hope

They are both fish, so you're not going to see vast differences like between Twinkies and salmon, but macro-nutritional information doesn't tell the whole story.

Levels of omega-3 (n-3) and omega-6 (n-6) fatty acids and lipid-adjusted concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, toxaphene, and dieldrin were determined in 459 farmed Atlantic salmon, 135 wild Pacific salmon, and 144 supermarket farmed Atlantic salmon fillets purchased in 16 cities in North America and Europe. These were the same fish previously used for measurement of organohalogen contaminants. Farmed salmon had greater levels of total lipid (average 16.6%) than wild salmon (average 6.4%). The n-3 to n-6 ratio was about 10 in wild salmon and 3−4 in farmed salmon. The supermarket samples were similar to the farmed salmon from the same region. Lipid-adjusted contaminant levels were significantly higher in farmed Atlantic salmon than those in wild Pacific salmon (F = 7.27, P = 0.0089 for toxaphene; F = 15.39, P = 0.0002 for dioxin; F ≥ 21.31, P < 0.0001 for dieldrin and PCBs, with df = (1,64) for all). Levels of total lipid were in the range of 30−40% in the fish oil/fish meal that is fed to farmed salmon. Salmon, especially farmed salmon, are a good source of healthy n-3 fatty acids, but they also contain high concentrations of organochlorine compounds such as PCBs, dioxins, and chlorinated pesticides. The presence of these contaminants may reduce the net health benefits derived from the consumption of farmed salmon, despite the presence of the high level of n-3 fatty acids in these fish.

This pilot study examined five commercial salmon feeds, four farmed salmon (one Atlantic, three chinooks) and four wild salmon (one chinook, one chum, two sockeyes) from the Pacific Coast for PCBs (112 congeners), polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs – 41 congeners), 25 organochlorine pesticides (OPs), 20 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and methyl and inorganic mercury. The farmed salmon showed consistently higher levels of PCBs, PBDEs, OPs (except toxaphene) than the wild salmon. The mean concentrations in pg/g were 51,216 vs 5302 for total PCBs; 2668 vs 178 for total PBDEs; 41,796 vs 12,164 for total OPs (except toxaphene). The farmed salmon levels are likely a consequence of the elevated level of contamination found in the commercial salmon feed (mean concentrations in pg/g were 65,535 for total PCBs; 1889 for total BPDEs; 48,124 for total OPs except toxaphene). Except for a single high wild chinook value, PAHs were highest in the feed samples followed by the farmed fish and the three other wild fish. The Bio-Oregon-1996 feed of hatchery origin showed a level of PAHs ten times higher than any other feed. The genotoxic implications of such a high PAH level are considered for juvenile chinook salmon. Toxaphene and methyl mercury concentrations were not notably different between the wild and farmed salmon. There was no clear low contaminant brand of salmon feed. The human health implications of eating farmed salmon are considered from the perspective of the current WHO and Health Canada (2000) tolerable daily intake (TDI) values for PCBs. Based on a TDI of 1 pg TEQ/kg bw/day, this analysis indicated a safety concern for individuals who on a regular weekly basis consume farmed salmon produced from contaminated feed.