Farm-Raised vs. Wild-Caught Fish

May 6, 2019

Eating several servings of fish per week has been shown to reduce the risk of pretty much everything, from heart disease to Alzheimer’s and dementia.  Seafood is high in those Omega 3 fatty acids we all hear so much about.  We all know we should eat fish, but does it really matter if it's wild-caught?  Yes, but no.

Most fish farms house thousands of fish in a small, penned-in area, where they are fed conventional feed (usually corn and soy-based, not smaller fish, plant life or insects like they are supposed to eat) and where it is too crowded for the fish to swim freely.  These practices breed disease and necessitate the use of antibiotics, which get into the fish meat (and then into us).  Additionally, the feed that farm-raised fish are given is not nearly as nutrient dense as their natural diet would be -- causing farmed fish to be much less nutrient dense for us than wild-caught fish.  Fish also accumulate heavy metals from polluted water, and pollution occurs more frequently in farms.  

It's pretty safe to assume that, if the fish you want to purchase is not explicitly labeled "wild" or "line-caught", it's farm-raised.  If it's within your budget to avoid this, great.  If wild-caught fish is too expensive for your family, however, don't stress -- even farm-raised fish is still a much better dinner than Spaghetti Os.

This website and this article are great resources if you'd like to learn more.