DEAR READERS: Salmon has long been touted as a healthy food, but there are some serious downsides to consider.
Stocks of wild salmon and other fish, such as cod, tuna and halibut, are in dire straits from overfishing and from the warming, acidification and pollution of our oceans. The alternative, farmed fish -- especially salmon, as I have detailed in earlier writings -- have now also reached a point of critical concern. I call for an immediate consumer boycott of salmon, whether it be fillets, salmon oil supplements or as an ingredient in foods and treats for dogs and cats.
For more details, here is an excerpt from a June 2022 article on BeyondPesticides.org:
"Farmed salmon serves as an inferior food source, accumulating more toxic chemicals in fatty tissue with fewer healthy nutrient properties, (says) a study from the University of Bergen, Norway and Alternative Medicine Review. However, the issue of toxic chemical contamination in fish dates back decades. ... The aquaculture industry (e.g., farmed seafood/fish) repeatedly faces sustainability issues, failing to adhere to environmental regulations and threatening marine health. Extensive use of pesticides in local marine ecosystems has induced coastal habitat loss and increased genetic and health risks to wild marine populations. Moreover, insecticides used to kill salmon parasites (e.g., fish lice) have led to widespread disease persistence and pest resistance.
"Marine species biodiversity is rapidly declining due to overfishing, global warming, pathogens and pollution. Thus, further biodiversity loss can change aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem functions and reduce ecosystem services.
"Food analysis results find the consumption of farmed salmon fillets contributes to higher rates of metabolic disorders, including diabetes and obesity. These farmed salmon also contain levels of toxins, including PCBs and dioxins, that are five times higher than levels in other tested foods. The report suggests the primary causes of farmed salmon toxicity stem from the toxicants in fish feed, like ethoxyquin, and environmental concentrations of the chemicals, whether from terrestrial sources or farmed fish itself."
In addition to the other synthetic chemicals, PFAS (aka "forever chemicals") are now all over the news, primarily with freshwater fishes (see ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2023/01/ewg-study-eating-one-freshwater-fish-equals-month-drinking), but in salmon, too (see purewaterblog.com/does-salmon-have-pfas-in-it-what-are-your-risks).
According to a 2018 article by Laura Reiley in the Tampa Bay Times, "Farmed salmon are fed pellets made out of fish oil and smaller fish, ground-up chicken feathers, poultry litter (yes, that's poop), genetically modified yeast, soybeans and chicken fat. Wild salmon get its lovely rose color from eating krill and shrimp. Farmed salmon, because it eats those pellets, is gray. To make it more appetizing to consumers, farmers add dyes to their feed."
See also this post on my website: drfoxonehealth.com/post/eating-lobsters-imperils-whales-farmed-seafoods-imperil-fish-stocks.
Put yourself in the mind of a farmed salmon, living in an overcrowded floating enclosure. These are fish that are used to swimming thousands of miles from rivers to oceans and back. Atlantic salmon are one of nature's greatest navigators: Their migration is a 2,000-nautical mile round-trip voyage.
On a promising note, veterinarians in the U.K. are advocating for better handling and more humane killing methods to be rapidly implemented, and more people are adopting vegan and vegetarian diets for environmental and health reasons. More government support is needed for Indigenous peoples, like the Lummi Nation, to restore coho salmon habitat for spawning and population recovery, as their rivers are being severely damaged by dams and by the timber industry.
For more, visit: americanindian.si.edu/environment/lummi/Strategies.cshtml. And to support efforts to protect fish, visit fishfeel.org.
DEAR DR. FOX: Since animals, fish and plants all have feelings, what should we eat? -- J.C., Westerly, Rhode Island
DEAR J.C.: Your question goes to the heart of an issue that has become ever more serious as the human population has increased to 8 billion. Where income permits, the market for meat has also increased, at great cost to the environment, wildlife and biodiversity, with documented suffering of farmed animals. This is why I regard veganism and vegetarianism as ethical imperatives, as per these posts on my website:
-- drfoxonehealth.com/post/world-hunger-and-rising-demand-for-meat-and-water
-- drfoxonehealth.com/post/changing-diets-for-healths-and-earths-sake
-- drfoxonehealth.com/post/vegetarianism-an-ethical-imperative
Read on for a study that is quite relevant.
PLANT-BASED DIET MAY LOWER COVID-19 INFECTION SEVERITY
A study found that in six European countries and the U.S., plant-based diets or pescatarian diets were associated with lower odds of moderate-to-severe COVID-19. From the study's conclusion: "Our results suggest that a healthy diet rich in nutrient-dense foods may be considered for protection against severe COVID-19. Future studies with detailed macro- and micronutrient data are warranted to study associations between dietary intake and COVID-19 severity." (Study: Hyunu Kim, et al.: "Plant-based diets, pescatarian diets and COVID-19 severity: a population-based case-control study in six countries," BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, May 15, 2021)
While I applaud this study and its conclusions, I would caution that the research was limited to relatively affluent countries with better food availability than much of the world enjoys, including poorer citizens within those countries. We must develop agricultural practices that are sustainable, socially just and cause the least harm to the environment and the life community -- which includes plants, microorganisms in the soil, and animals terrestrial and aquatic.
(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.
Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)