Study says wild fish healthier for you than farmed salmon

By Isobel Williams via SWNS

Wild fish such as mackerel, herring, and anchovies could be healthier than salmon, suggests a new study.

New research suggests that farmed salmon production leads to an overall loss of essential dietary nutrients, making the fish that are fed to salmon a healthier alternative.

The researchers say that eating more wild ‘feed’ species directly could benefit our health while reducing demand for finite marine resources.

The study, published in the journal Nature Food, is based on an analysis of the flow of nutrients from the edible species of wild fish used as feed, to the farmed salmon they were fed to.

They focused on nine nutrients that are essential in human diets and concentrated in seafood – iodine, calcium, iron, vitamin B12, vitamin A, omega-3, vitamin D, zinc and selenium.

The wild fish studied included Pacific and Peruvian anchoveta, and Atlantic herring, mackerel, sprat and blue whiting – which are all marketed and consumed as seafood.

They found that these six feed species contained a greater, or similar, concentration of nutrients as the farmed salmon fillets.

Quantities of calcium were over five times higher in wild-feed fish fillets than in salmon fillets, iodine was four times higher, and iron, omega-3, vitamin B12, and vitamin A were over 1.5 times higher.

Dr. David Willer from the Zoology Department at the University of Cambridge said: “What we’re seeing is that most species of wild fish used as feed have a similar or greater density and range of micronutrients than farmed salmon fillets.

“Whilst still enjoying eating salmon and supporting sustainable growth in the sector, people should consider eating a greater and wider variety of wild fish species like sardines, mackerel and anchovies, to get more essential nutrients straight to their plate.

“Making a few small changes to our diet around the type of fish that we eat can go a long way to changing some of these deficiencies and increasing the health of both our population and planet.”

Most wild ‘feed’ fish met dietary nutrient recommendations at smaller portion sizes than farmed Atlantic salmon, including omega-3 fatty acids which are known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Despite these health benefits, the scientists note that 24 percent of adults ate salmon weekly while only 5.4 percent ate mackerel, one percent anchovies and just 0.4 percent herring.

The team hopes that their findings will encourage the fishing and aquaculture industries to become more efficient and reduce the burden on fish stocks that also provide seafood.

Dr. Richard Newton from the University of Stirling said: “It was interesting to see that we’re effectively wasting around 80 percent of the calcium and iodine from the feed fish – especially when we consider that women and teenage girls are often not getting enough of these nutrients.

“Farmed salmon is an excellent source of nutrition, and is one of the best converters of feed of any farmed animal, but for the industry to grow it needs to become better at retaining key nutrients that it is fed.

“This can be done through more strategic use of feed ingredients, including from fishery by-products and sustainably sourced, industrial-grade fish such as sand eels.”

Dr. Willer added: “We’d like to see the industry expand but not at a cost to our oceans. We’d also like to see a greater variety of affordable, convenient and appealing products made of wild ‘feed’ fish and fish and salmon by-products for direct human consumption.”