Packed with omega-3 and protein, fish seems to be the perfect companion to a healthy fat burning diet. But terrible business practices and scams can make the wrong fish end up in your plate.
Farmed Fish
- Farmed in a controlled environment (underwater cages or piscicultures)
- High levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins and dieldrin
- Up to 3X less omega-3
- Antibiotics and pesticides
Wild-Caught Fish
- All fish caught in oceans, lakes or rivers
- Lower levels of contaminants
- Up to 3 times more omega-3 than farmed fish
- Can be a sustainable and renewable resource
Can You really Wait on The “Official” Recommendations?
Based on the concerning levels of contaminants in farmed fish, the EPA recommends reducing consumption anywhere from one half serving per month to 3 meals per month – depending on the sourcing. On the other hand, the FDA does not have consumption standards for these contaminants and uses technologies that are 20 years to help set the regulatory levels for PCBs, allowing potentially hazardous fish to be sold legally in the US.
Labelling Scams
A 2005 study revealed that “wild-caught” salmon at 6 of 8 New York City restaurants was actually farm-raised. In 2011, a study by students from the University of Washington Tacoma showed that 40% of wild salmon sold in local restaurants were in fact farm-raised.
Frequently Contaminated
Like this is the case with cheap factory-raised meat, fish and seafood show an “F” on the contamination report card. Some highlights :
- About 27% of the seafood sold in the US comes from China and is often contaminated – even if the FDA inspects only about 2.7% of imported food
- The FDA has rejected 820 Chinese seafood shipments since 2007
- In China’s Guangdong province, producers feed fish partly with feces from pigs and geese, a very dangerous practice
How To Spot Farmed Fish
Finding real wild-caught fish is a real gamble. Look for these characteristics:
Farmed
- Light pink
- Large streaks of fat
- Muddy taste and greasy mouth feel
Wild-Caught
- Bright orange or reddish color
- Usually very low fat
- Better taste (very subjective)
The Worst Practices In The Industry
Adding coloring to grain-fed farmed fish allows producers to make up for the loss of pigmentation. They even use a color paletter called the SalmoFan©. Trawling, a fishing technique which essentially scoops up everything within range from the ocean floor – only about 5% of the contents are used, while the other 95% is dumped, dead, back into the ocean.
Size Does Matter
Toxic chemicals like mercury accumulate at the top of the food chain. In plain English, the bigger a fish is, the more contaminated with mercury or other chemicals it will be.
Salmon
- 8-12 pounds
- 0.014 ppm mercury
Tuna
- 12-35 pounds
- 0.357 ppm
Mackerel
- 30-90 pounds
- 0.730 ppm
Should You Worry About Mercury?
- According to the FDA, pregnant women and small children (under 6) should not eat more than 2 servings of fish every week because of the potential high levels of mercury
- In general, farmed fish and large species contain more mercury
- Most ocean fish contain more selenium than mercury, which could potentially remove any risk for your health.
- Check out the online mercury calculator at GotMercury.org to get an idea of how much mercury you might be exposed to.
What About Shellfish?
All the recommendations about fish still apply to any kind of shellfish:
- Clams
- Mussels
- Oysters
- Scallops
- Shrimp
- Lobster
- Crabs
Summary
- If you choose them wisely, fish and seafood are still good sources of essential fat-burning nutrients.
- Wild-caught fish contain less mercury and other dangerous contaminants.
- As a general rule, choose smaller fish like salmon, sole or tilapia instead of large species like tuna, shark or swordfish.
