Cut-Throat said:
Boy, have you been brainwashed by commercial fishing industry! They are not going to go down without a fight. expect to hear all sorts of nasty things about farm raised Salmon. They have Hundreds of thousands of dollars in boats and gear, with not much future to do anything else. It's gonna get nasty!
I'd rather support a small fish farmer than anyone killing wild animals.
If you had to get your Beef, Chicken and Pork from only wild stock - Do you really think we'd have any wild animals left?
Yes, there are problems with Fish Farming as there have been with other types of farming. But Fish Farming is the future as 90% of the fish in the Oceans are Gone!
1. brainwashed by the fishing industry. right. they probably set EPA criteria.
check out
http://www.albany.edu/ihe/salmonstudy/pressrelease.html
http://www.ewg.org/reports/farmedPCBs/es.php
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_2_1x_IS_Salmon_Safe.asp
I suppose these are all just mouthpieces of the commercial fishing industry? Who do you suppose has more teeth--Tyson foods or the battered fishing industry?
The bottom line is that farmed salmon have significantly more contaminants. The question is unsettled what the long-term health risks are. But what the hell--take a gamble....it's only your health.
Cut-Throat said:
If you know anything about Pacific Salmon, you know the species I have not eaten.
To set you straight about a few things which you don't know what you are talking about.
The Atlantic Salmon is a True Salmon - The Steelhead is a Sea Run Rainbow trout which is in the same family as the Pacific Salmon. Atlantic Salmon and Brown Trout are in the same family. Completely Different families and scientific names!
2. I like to think I know a thing or two about Pacific Salmon, having sport-fished, commercial fished, and worked several seasons for Alaska Fish and Game. It seems that since I don't agree with you, I must not know anything. One thing I don't know is if the "species to be shunned" in your book is chums or pinks. Personally, I prefer chums to pinks, but many feel the other way. But either one is tasty enough if fresh and prepared properly. (full disclosure--I have not had any fisheries-related job for 14 years, nor have any financial stake in any of this). That being said, I'd rather eat a King, Sockeye or Coho, but basically, the "desirability" seems to be directly proportional to their fat content.
But tell me, then why is atlantic salmon "salmo salar" when all the pacific salmon genus are "Oncorhynchus"? And why do atlantic salmon not die after they spawn, but swim back to the ocean more like a seagoing trout? I will grant you that steelhead is also an Oncorhynchus, so my statement about atlantic salmon being related to them was not accurate.
check out
http://wdfw.wa.gov/outreach/fishing/t&sid.pdf
kind of interesting that they classify the Atlantic salmon in with the trout, not with the salmon, don't you think? Although rainbows, cuts, and goldens have been reclassified as salmon species. It seems there is not so much difference between salmon and trout as many believe. I guess "it's just semantics." I will admit to my prior statement about Atlantic salmon not being "true salmon" was inaccurate and now believe that the term "true salmon" is probably meaningless.
3. as for your implied contention that it is somehow more ecological or moral or something to eat farmed fish than it is to "kill wild animals" (isn't that what sport fisherman do?
) you seem to have conveniently ignored a lot of enviromental and food-chain issues which I alluded to in my previous post. If you think that increasing salmon farming is going to save wild salmon stocks, then I suggest that you might need to think about this a bit more. The problem at this point in time is loss of habitat, not overfishing. Escaped Atlantic farmed salmon on the pacific coast are a major threat to wild runs. It's certainly possible for the industry to change the way they do things, but of course they resist. Just as it's possible to manage a wild fishery or a coastal development plan in a manner that doesn't harm the stocks, although again, there is always political pressure due to greed.
4. finally, and here we are definitely in the realm of pure opinion, there is a sizable body of gourmet literature out there that will diss farmed fish as not being as firm or flavourful. For example, " True salmon connoisseurs prefer wild salmon to farm-raised because of its firmer flesh and superior flavor." in
http://allrecipes.com/advice/coll/all/articles/290P1.asp
there are so many variables in cooking, treating the fish etc. that this is an argument that can never be won. The big advantage farmed fish have is the ability to get them to market more quickly and for them to be handled in a consistent way.
C-T, I have no beef (whether slaughtehouse or range-fed
) with you. In fact, I agree with your posts more often than not. But just because we disagree on this issue does not mean that I "do not know what I am talking about." And while it is probably true that 90% of the fish in the ocean are gone, IMO that doesn't justify maintaining practices that endanger the 10% that are left.
I actually believe it is probably healthier to eat
some farmed salmon than no fish at all due to the beneficial nature of the omega oils. I just think people need to realize that they are intaking more toxins when they choose this route and should restrict it to a couple servings per month (if not pregnant) per the best information currently available.
