Just because the sign in the supermarket sea department says ‘Fresh Salmon’ doesn’t mean it was recently caught by a fisherman. As a mater of fact, it doesn’t mean a fisherman caught it at all. Better chances are the ‘fresh’ salmon you’re buying was raised in a giant saltwater pen on a salmon farm.
     These farm-raised fish are fed pellets of ground up fishmeal and oils to make them grow quickly. In addition they are fed antibiotics to fight disease. You may be surprised to learn their food contains additives that give them their color. Without those ‘color’ additives, their flesh would be a pale grey (totally unappetizing to the consumer). In the wild, salmon absorb carotenoids from eating pink krill.
     Some other significant differences between farm-raised and free-swimming (wild caught) salmon are nutritional.
     1. Farm raised salmon are fattier. For the same reason humans who don’t exercise are fatter than those who do. Basically the farm-raised salmon is a marine couch potato who spends his days ‘pigging out’ on fish pellets loaded with calories, artificial ‘coloring’ and antibiotics.
     2. Farm raised salmon provide less useable omega- 3’s as compared to the free-swimming salmon. (Not good because omega-3’s are the ‘good’ omega’s)
     3. Farm raised salmon provide more pro-inflammatory omega-6’s than their free-swimming counterparts.
(Not good because omega-6’s are the ‘bad’ omega’s).
     4. Farm raised salmon are given antibiotics and pesticides to keep disease under control. Disease and parasites, which would normally exist in relatively low levels in fish swimming freely around in the oceans, can run rampant in densely packed oceanic feedlots. To survive, farmed fish are vaccinated as ‘infants’. Later, they are given antibiotics or pesticides to ward off infection.
     5. Flame Retardants: Appearing in higher concentrations in farmed salmon. Flame-retardant additives used widely in electronics and furniture are appearing in increasing amounts in fish, and farmed salmon contain significantly higher levels of these polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) compounds than wild salmon, according to research published in the August 11, 2004 issue of Environmental Science and Technology.

     Beginning September 2004, U.S. supermarkets are required to label salmon as farmed or wild. If you don’t see the sign – ask! We suggest that you choose wild, rather than farmed salmon, and if purchasing chinook salmon, choose Alaskan chinook. Unfortunately most of us do not get enough omega-3’s from our food, therefore fish oil supplements have become a routine for many of us. Just as when selecting salmon; when selecting your omega-3 supplements you should know their source. OneLifeUSA’s Something Smells Fishy is 100% salmon oil (not a mixed fish oil) and is taken only from free-swimming wild caught Alaskan salmon! Importanly, it is also 100% heavy metal free.