My family loves Salmon! It used to be on our menu almost every day (Omega 3 fatty acids..good for heart!). Until recently, when salmon became scarce, the price went up and the quality degraded, it became a weekly thing. Now, it looks like it might be on our menu once a month or perhaps even less frequent. Why?
Anyone who reads or listens to news ( in the US , esp. California), would have heard about Persistence Organic Pollutants(POP) . A familiar POP is DDT, which is now banned in most countries. Long story short, POP are chemicals, (mostly) manmade and can cause cancer. They can also damage the nervous and immune system, cause reproductive disorders. Exposure to unborn child can cause irreversible reduction in IQ, reduced attention span, increased antisocial behavior, reduced immune system as indicated here.
POP are a problem because they are Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT). So, even if it is banned, the concentration in the environment is not on the decline because of it persistence (the problem we face with DDT). See Wikipedia here for more information about POP.
How do salmon consumers get exposed to it?
The fish feed is concentrated fat and proteins extracted from fish trawled from the bottom of the ocean. The trawled fish absorbs POP from the contaminated sediments and food as indicated here, which is then stored in the body fat (POP are Lipophiliac). Since the fish feed is concentrated fat from trawled fish, the fattened farmed salmon contains more POP than a lean non-farmed salmon might contain by consuming food in the open waters.
The average level of PCBs (a POP, banned in the US since 1977) in farmed salmon is 0.027 ppm (parts per million) much higher than the non farmed salmon. According to a report by Environmental working group (EWG), farm raised salmon have 16 times the PCBs found in wild salmon. Per EPA recommendation, fish with PCB levels between 0.024 - 0.048 ppm should be eaten 8 oz a month. (see here )
More reasons to avoid farmed salmon from Monterey Bay Aquarium's sea food watch :
- Waste from most salmon farms is released directly into the ocean.
- Parasites and diseases from farmed salmon can spread to wild fish swimming near the farms.
- Salmon farmers may use pesticides and antibiotics to control outbreaks of disease among the fish. When consumers eat this fish, the residues from the chemicals may affect their health or interfere with medicines they're taking.
- It takes three pounds of wild fish to grow one pound of farmed salmon. As a result, farming salmon actually uses more fish than it produces, which puts more pressure on wild populations.
New study has found that POP in humans cause resistance to insulin, which is a precursor to diabetes.
Listen to this story on NPR's living on earth here
Ask whether the salmon is wild or farmed before buying. If farmed eat once a month or even less. Broil or grill the salmon, as it takes out the fat. If pregnant or of reproductive age, just stay away from farmed salmon. Eat walnuts for Omega 3 fatty acids.
If you are not convinced and have time on your hands to do a little research you can start here
- Scientific Literature review can be found here
- Watch BBC's documentary 'Warnings from the wild, The price of Salmon' (Unfortunately, it's not on Netflix)
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