Dangerous salmon
by GUSTAV-ERIK BLAALID, EDITOR gustav@fishfarmingxpert.com
During this summer people in Norway have been discussing whether or not it is harmful to eat farmed salmon. Norwegians are not very used to sunshine and warmth, so one could be tempted to say that this discussion is the result of sunstroke ...But, no.
The background of this story are two medical doctors, both of whom claim that too much salmon is harmful. They recommend pregnant women to refrain from eating farmed salmon and they claim that too much farmed salmon in anyone’s diet is harmful for most of us. This is in stark contrast to official dietary recommendations, where it is claimed that eating fatty fish, rich in omega 3, is a good investment for one’s health. It is also claimed that the negative effects on health from not eating fatty fish are far larger than those caused by eating too much fatty fish. These medical doctors claim that it is all the unwanted substances that make farmed salmon harmful for humans.
One of the two doctors even recommends eating more herring or mackerel, which also are fatty fish rich in omega 3. What she does not mention, or maybe she does not know, is that the content of harmful substances in wild fish is higher than in farmed fish. The salmon accumulates these unwanted substances through the ingredients used to make fish feed. It is also interesting to note that one of the two medical doctors mentioned is engaged in a lawsuit against a fish farm located close to her holiday property. This leads the discussion over into a phase of ulterior motives.
We won’t go into further details of this discussion, but we want to mention the following:
Farmed salmon contains unwanted substances. It goes without saying that the limits for these are below the legal limits, but if the fish feed producers had cleaned the feed, the farmed salmon could be free of these substances – in contrast to all wild fish. Then, eating farmed salmon would have been the safest thing to eat. This fact would give farmed salmon a unique market position. Second: The omega 3 content is decreasing because more and more plant oils are used in fish feed. If the industry can invest more into research into alternative solutions – amongst others the use of algae that produce the marine fatty acids EPA and DHA, and add these such that the omega 3 levels increase – then they could reclaim their position as producers of health food. This will also add to a unique market position.
Our recommendation is that the salmon producers should have a vision: By 2015 all fish feed should be cleaned of unwanted substances. Omega 3 content in the salmon should be back to a natural level. Then the position in the market would be secured, whereas it is under great pressure at the moment.
Recently the least serious parts of the environmental movement have claimed that salmon causes cancer. Now this claim is repeated by Norway’s biggest newspaper and there it is competent people from the health sector who are cited. How does this affect the attitude of the normal consumer? Our claim is that it is silly of the producers to test the limits. If the consumer trend turns against farmed salmon, the producers will face a long-lasting economical nightmare. And it is not exactly a wise thing to do to cut off the branch on which you’re sitting?
The point is that negative trends don’t occur over night. Not from one year to the next. But they grow over time. The most motivated salmon eaters do not stop eating salmon because of propaganda against salmon. But new consumers being sceptical will lead to negative trends.
Salmon has a good reputation of being healthy and good food. A good reputation gets built millimetre by millimetre, but gets destroyed metre by metre.
