As we say here in the NW, 'Friends don't let friends eat farmed salmon.' Here are some points referring to farmed salmon not only being less nutritious, but harmful to the environment. Also farmed salmon are given chemical dyes to make them salmon colored.
Farmed Salmon Less Nutritious Than Wild Salmon
George Mateljan, founder of Health Valley Foods, says that farmed fish are “far inferior” to their wild counterparts. “Despite being much fattier, farmed fish provide less usable beneficial omega 3 fats than wild fish,” he says.
Indeed, U.S. Department of Agriculture research bears out that the fat content of farmed salmon is 30 percent to 35 percent by weight while wild salmons’ fat content is some 20 percent lower, though with a protein content about 20 percent higher. And farm-raised fish contain higher amounts of pro-inflammatory omega 6 fats instead of the preponderance of healthier omega 3s found in wild fish.
“Due to the feedlot conditions of aquafarming, farm-raised fish are doused with antibiotics and exposed to more concentrated pesticides than their wild kin,” reports Mateljan. He adds that farmed salmon are given a salmon-colored dye in their feed “without which their flesh would be an unappetizing grey color.”
Go for wild caught salmon! And as Butternut advises, prepare it simply to let the quality shine through. Respect the fish, don't over cook or over sauce and realize what you are indulging in.
Farmed salmon has a gamier taste, in my opinion. Okay if you are going to use a marinade, sauce, etc. for a more "covered" preparation. Served a gorgeous wild salmon recently, purchased from a local fisherman at a farmer's market, and cooked it simply to let the quality shine through. Guests were floored. It was pricey, but would not have been possible with cheap farmed salmon. Have to say, the beautiful wild salmon, plain, was better than the marinated and sauced farmed version. So perhaps, moral of the story is, buy wild, if/when it's doable, for those special occasions that call for gorgeous food...
Wild caught salmon is a far better choice. Although it will cost you more. Farmed salmon has to be fed agents that will approximate their natural color, but don't really come close. That's because salmon are not naturally vegetarians, in the wild they feed on tiny shrimp whereas penned salmon are fed Monsanto products. And if they escape in numbers from pens they can also endanger the natural fishery.
Wild caught salmon is a far better choice. Although it will cost you more. Farmed salmon has to be fed agents that will approximate their natural color, but don't really come close. That's because salmon are not naturally vegetarians, in the wild they feed on tiny shrimp whereas penned salmon are fed Monsanto products. And if they escape in numbers from pens they can also endanger the natural fishery.
According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, wild-caught salmon from Alaska is the best choice. Seafood Watch recommends wild-caught salmon from Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington as these are ocean-friendly choices. “Avoid” salmon farmed in open net pens. Salmon farmed on land in “closed” or “contained” farms is a viable alternative that points the way to a more environmentally-friendly future for salmon farming.
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Farmed Salmon Less Nutritious Than Wild Salmon
George Mateljan, founder of Health Valley Foods, says that farmed fish are “far inferior” to their wild counterparts. “Despite being much fattier, farmed fish provide less usable beneficial omega 3 fats than wild fish,” he says.
Indeed, U.S. Department of Agriculture research bears out that the fat content of farmed salmon is 30 percent to 35 percent by weight while wild salmons’ fat content is some 20 percent lower, though with a protein content about 20 percent higher. And farm-raised fish contain higher amounts of pro-inflammatory omega 6 fats instead of the preponderance of healthier omega 3s found in wild fish.
“Due to the feedlot conditions of aquafarming, farm-raised fish are doused with antibiotics and exposed to more concentrated pesticides than their wild kin,” reports Mateljan. He adds that farmed salmon are given a salmon-colored dye in their feed “without which their flesh would be an unappetizing grey color.”