A while ago, I posted about the Monterey Bay Aquarium app that tells you what seafood is safe (for consumption as well as for the environment). Recently, Mark’s Daily Apple posted an article elaborating on the topic of farmed vs fresh fish.

Just as it can be taxing on your monthly budget to try to eat organic, pastured, or grass-fed, sticking to only wild caught fish can also add up. Are all farmed seafood the aquatic equivalent to mass produced grain fed cows, wallowing in their own filth? The answer is a bit more complex.

Wild Caught:
With sardines, Alaskan salmon, herring, mackerel, you may want to stick to wild caught, but you have to stay in the know with environmental (eco conscious fishing practice as well as toxin level) issues.

Farmed:

Shellfish: The life of a farmed shellfish vs a wild one is very similar. They both live in the ocean attached to something, filter through the same water for their food and generally are the least contaminated farmed seafood. Check the labels, though, and avoid imports from China, as the waters are more polluted.

American Catfish: While farmed catfish is lower in n-3 content, this fish even wild has never been sought out for that reason. It’s still a better ratio than dark chicken meat, and the US standards for catfish farms are rather strict.

Tank-Farmed Freshwater Coho Salmon: Selected as best choice by the Monterey Bay Aquarium for its high n-3 content and lack of impact on the environment, this salmon is raised in a controlled environment, unlike the farmed Atlantic salmon that have high n-6 levels and industrial contaminants.

Click here to read the full article and about some other farmed seafood options such as:

US Rainbow Trout
US Barramundi
American Crayfish

WOD 05.17.11

Run 100
9 Push Presses (PP)
9 Toes To Rings (T2R)
Run 200
15 PP
15 T2R
Run 400
21 PP
21 T2R
Run 800