According to a study entitled “Consumption Advisories for Salmon Based on Risk of Cancer and Noncancer Health Effects”, the answer is: no. In fact, no ocean fish are free from contaminants and toxins, but ingestion of BC open-net raised farmed salmon is nearly 10 times more cancer-causing than some species of BC Wild Salmon. Consumption advisories are based on USEPA cumulative carcinogenic risk assessment methods for total DDT, dieldrin, total chlordane, heptachlor epoxide, lindane, hexachlorobenzene, toxaphene, PCBs and dioxins/furans. These consumption advisories are summarized below:
Western Canada farmed salmon: 0.4 x per month (once every 2.5 months)
BC Wild Chinook: 1 x per month
BC Wild Sockeye: 1.2 x per month
BC Wild Coho: 2 x per month
BC Wild Pink: 2.5 x per month
BC Wild Chum: 3.8 x per month
According to the study, our oceans have become seriously contaminated with persistent organic compounds and the concentrated fish meal fed to farmed salmon is a major source of higher concentrations of these compounds in this variety of salmon.
“The food fed to the farmed salmon is mainly fish meal and fish oil, and is about 33% fat by weight. In contrast, the percentage fat in wild salmon is of the order of 6%, while farmed salmon, which get little exercise, have a lipid content of about 16% (Hamilton et al., 2005). Wild salmon, in addition to having to search for their food, eat lower on the food chain and, therefore, take in fewer contaminants.”
