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Seafood Watch - Seafood Guide

Salmon

© Monterey Bay Aquarium
SEAFOODRATINGMARKET NAMESWHERE CAUGHTHOW CAUGHT
Salmon Best Choice: These fish are abundant, well managed and fished or farmed in environmentally friendly ways. Coho, Chum, Keta, King, Pink, Red, Silver, Sockeye, Sake Alaska Wild-caught
Salmon Best Choice: These fish are abundant, well managed and fished or farmed in environmentally friendly ways. Coho, Silver Salmon U.S. Farmed in Tank Systems
Salmon Good Alternative: These are good alternatives to the best choices column. There are some concerns with how they are fished or farmed – or with the health of their habitats due to other human impacts. Coho, Chum, Keta, King, Pink, Red, Silver, Sockeye, Sake Washington, Oregon (north of Cape Falcon) Wild-caught
Salmon Avoid: Avoid these products for now. These fish come from sources that are overfished or fished or farmed in ways that harm the environment. Farmed Salmon, Atlantic Salmon, Sake Worldwide Farmed
Salmon Avoid: Avoid these products for now. These fish come from sources that are overfished or fished or farmed in ways that harm the environment. Coho, Chum, Keta, King, Pink, Red, Silver, Sockeye, Sake California, Oregon (south of Cape Falcon) Wild-caught
Salmon Roe Best Choice: These fish are abundant, well managed and fished or farmed in environmentally friendly ways. Ikura Alaska Wild-caught


Salmon, Freshwater Coho

U.S. farmed freshwater coho salmon is a “Best Choice” due to the reduced risk of escaped fish and the spread of pollution and disease to the surrounding environment. However, consumers should “Avoid” farmed salmon raised in open net pens.

Consumer Note

Coho is one of the five salmon species native to the North Pacific. Like other species of salmon, coho can be wild-caught or farmed. Currently, the majority of farmed coho salmon is raised in open net pens and gets an “Avoid” ranking. However, the small percentage of coho salmon that’s farmed in inland tanks in the U.S. is a “Best Choice.” All salmon is known as sake when prepared for sushi.

Summary

Most salmon farms raise their fish in open net pens that don’t offer a barrier or protection to the surrounding environment. As a result, fish waste, chemicals and other pollution, disease, parasites and even the farmed fish themselves escape the farm to impact the local environment and the wild fish that live there. Closed systems contain the fish and water within the farm rather than releasing them into the environment. In addition, the use of disease-free source water and strict security protocols minimize the spread of disease from farms to the wild. For these reasons, closed systems impact the environment less than open net pens.

All farmed salmon rely on wild-caught fish – in the form of fishmeal or fish oil – for food. U.S. farmed freshwater coho salmon currently require much less wild fish in their feed than do other farmed salmon.

Thanks to these innovations, U.S. farmed freshwater coho salmon is a "Best Choice," while traditional farmed salmon is ranked as “Avoid.”


Recipe Alternatives
Seafood Watch recommends wild-caught salmon from Alaska or Washington are both ocean-friendly choices. “Avoid” wild-caught salmon from California and Oregon, as well as salmon farmed in open net pens. Salmon farmed on land in “closed” or “contained” farms is a viable alternative that points the way to a more environmentally-friendly future for salmon farming.

Scientific Reports About Our Ratings
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How fish are caught or farmed makes a difference. Fishing boat

 
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