Celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern says new research on omega-3 levels in farmed salmon should prompt efforts to improve fish farming—not calls to abandon it.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture-led study, published in Frontiers in Nutrition, found that farmed Atlantic salmon had 63.8% less EPA and 47.5% less DHA than figures in older federal nutrition data. Both fatty acids are associated with heart health.
The researchers suggested the decline may be related to changes in salmon feed, as farms increasingly use plant-based oils in place of marine fish oils.
Zimmern, a James Beard Award-winning chef and co-author of “The Blue Food Cookbook,” cautioned against applying the findings to the entire farmed seafood industry. The study analyzed eight salmon fillets bought from retailers in the mid-Atlantic, and farming methods can differ substantially between producers and countries.
Having visited salmon farms in Chile, Zimmern said he has seen operations with very different practices. Some, he noted, are doing a good job; others are not.
He argued that improving aquaculture makes more sense than simply urging people to stop eating farmed fish. If large amounts of food were removed from the global supply, he said, they would need to be replaced with something else.
A USDA spokesperson said the samples were selected to help update existing nutrition information. The agency said the sample size followed standard methods for assessing whether nutrient levels had changed meaningfully since earlier analyses.
The USDA also said the findings should not discourage people from eating farmed salmon, which remains a source of omega-3 fatty acids and other nutrients.
Zimmern has previously urged consumers to pay closer attention to where seafood comes from and how it is produced, rather than focusing only on whether it is wild-caught or farm-raised. He added that seafood often seems to face more scrutiny than other animal proteins.
