by D. Vogt

Created on: May 05, 2010

Nutrition and diet experts generally agree that salmon is an important food source, providing a range of important vitamins and minerals. Farmed salmon were supposed to guarantee that food source at a time when the ocean fish populations are dwindling away due to overfishing. However, here are several reasons, at least for the moment, why wild salmon is better for you than farmed salmon.

- The Value of Salmon -

The two remaining major fish stocks of the Western world - as seen in the canned section of the grocery store as much as in the fresh fish section - are salmon and tuna. Of the two, salmon is richer in energy and essential nutrients. For only a moderate level of calories, and protein-rich ones at that, a serving of salmon provides such essential nutrients as omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin B3, and Vitamin B12.

Unfortunately, salmon are also getting harder to find due to human overfishing. Fish producers have attempted to solve this problem by turning away from the traditional fishing fleets toward salmon "farms," raising very large numbers of fish in intensively managed tanks or, more commonly, large, open-water cage or net enclosures. These latter have commonly come under criticism for their harmful effects on the wild salmon population, both through escapes of farm-bred salmon into wild populations as well as through the spread of contagions and sea lice due to the cramped, unsanitary conditions present within the salmon farms.

Nevertheless, this article is being written from a nutritional rather than an environmental perspective. The question therefore is, how do farmed salmon stack up compared to wild salmon?

- More Contaminants -

As it turns out, not that well. Scientists studying aquaculture and comparing wild and farmed salmon populations have known for several years that wild salmon is better for you than farmed salmon because it contains fewer toxins. According to a 2004 article in Science Daily, farmed salmon in both Europe and North America were found to have substantially higher levels of dangerous contaminants than their wild counterparts. These pollutants included PCBs and dioxin, both of which are known to cause cancer in humans. In the United States, PCBs are now recognized as a threat to human health and their production is strictly controlled.

In addition to these pollutant concerns, farmed salmon also suffer from potential problems common to all intensively farmed stock. They are regularly exposed to pesticides and to preventative

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