There are plenty of reasons not to eat farm fish, most of which involve habitats and ecosystems and other stuff that is really really important but which really really doesn’t resonate with a lot of people. Here’s a reason to favor wild fish over farm fish that WILL resonate with people, by appealing to your stomach.
That’s right, wild fish tastes a hell of a lot better. The picture accompanying this post attempts to illustrate that. I apologize for the poor quality; I took it with my iPhone 3GS while shopping yesterday (I ended up buying the wild fish). We’ll try a little exercise. Look closely at the picture and determine which, if any, are wild or farm fish. Hint: it’s salmon.
Have a guess? Here’s the answer: The fish on top (the pinker one) is the wild fish. It is wild “fresh” (technically means it was never frozen) Coho salmon. The fish on the bottom that looks a sickly unnatural orange color is the farm fish. The label actually says “Fresh Norwegian Atlantic Salmon. Farm Raised - Color Added.” That’s right, color has been added, yet they still don’t make it look like real fish. I’d hate to see what color it is before the color is added.
Why is color important when I started the post talking about taste? In general, the two seem to go hand-in-hand. Greener lettuce is generally tastier than white lettuce. Broccoli has a stronger taste than cauliflower. And so on. Thus, it makes sense that pinker salmon would taste better than orange salmon.
To back that up with science, the pink color of salmon (and flamingoes, for that matter) comes from eating shrimp and shrimp-like organisms. These organisms’ diets and bodies contain nutrients and minerals that cause many of them to appear pinkish. These nutrients are then absorbed into the salmon’s body and cause its flesh to appear pink (fine! “salmon”-colored). A farm fish, however, is fed nutrient-containing pellets which provide nutrition so that the fish can survive, but not the right ones to turn the flesh pink and give it flavor.
This is, in fact, the case. Not to mention that farm fish are generally fattier because they don’t have to worry about being chased by seals and orcas and can instead swim leisurely around a containment pen.
It is true that wild is a little more expensive than farm fish. However, I believe the satisfaction of eating something with taste is well worth it.