Is the real take away but I can pretty much always taste the difference between farmed and caught fish because their diet and exercise isn’t the same. And no, I’m not talking about the freshness quality, that’s just universally ass in the USA because we import fish from across the globe.
But the global demand for seafood is so damn high that I’d rather put up with farmed fish than nuking the entire ocean.
My main issue is diet source and water filtration. (most) Fish evolved to basically not spend energy mitigating toxins and other heavy metals in their bodies because they’re used to living in a constant stream of water, hence why they generate ammonia instead of urea, because the sheer volume of water will dillute it away.
Both wild and farmed fish are highly susceptible to polluted food and water, which we really do not take enough care of these days lol.
As stated, it is because they don’t eat little crustaceans and krill in the Salmon farms. These critters have Astaxanthin in them (same stuff that makes flamingoes pink).
Astaxanthin is just the pigment that is naturally produced by these animals. It can be synthetically produced using yeast or algae - the synthetic stuff is chemically identical to the naturally-occurring stuff.
I feel like the implication when you see “farmed salmon is grey” is typically “and therefore it is bad/toxic/unhealthy/unnatural, etc”. Really, the color just means they just have less naturally occurring astaxanthin in their diet. Astaxanthin is an antioxidant and is good for you - and plays a role in the growth and development of the salmon. However, when it is produced synthetically and added into the fishes’ feed to give them color & aid their development, it has the same effect as if it were from krill.
There are problems with salmon farming (environmental and animal welfare issues, though there can also be disease and contaminant issues dependent on farm location/conditions), but the actual meat is not nutritionally very different from wild salmon. It can actually have similar or even higher omega-3 content because farmed salmon are fatter (though their fat is higher in omega-6 and lower in omega-3 than wild-caught salmon).
Wow, both of you taught me some neat stuff! Astaxanthin sounds like it plays multiple roles in the lifecycle of salmon and is one of the most powerful antioxidants as well, so it benefits those of us that eat salmon. It’s also the same reason/process that makes flamingos their beautiful color.
Unsurprising. A lot of ‘natural’ additives are actually worse for you than the synthetic alternative.
The most obvious example I can think of is almond flavouring. The natural variant often contains traces of cyanide, which is not great even in small quantities.
Bit of a tangent, but I think most people would be surprised how many of the plants in their garden are deadly. And because I don’t want to give anyone any ideas, usually that death is slow, incredibly painful, and involve you shitting yourself endlessly. Wear gloves and don’t burn stuff you don’t recognise.
It’s big carnivorous ocean-dwelling fish for me - like tuna, swordfish, etc - both because many of their fisheries are in very poor health/are destructive to the environment and because of the heavy metals issue.
“Fun” fact: Salmon from farmes are actually gray/pale-ish and coloured via their feed. You can order your salmon in a predefined tint.
SYNTHETIC astaxanthin.
Yes yes, very spooky sounding. Do you know how they make it? By farming the same damn algae that salmon eat.
People get their panties in a bunch about farmed versus wild salmon. It’s the same damn thing. Eat what you can afford.
Is the real take away but I can pretty much always taste the difference between farmed and caught fish because their diet and exercise isn’t the same. And no, I’m not talking about the freshness quality, that’s just universally ass in the USA because we import fish from across the globe.
But the global demand for seafood is so damn high that I’d rather put up with farmed fish than nuking the entire ocean.
My main issue is diet source and water filtration. (most) Fish evolved to basically not spend energy mitigating toxins and other heavy metals in their bodies because they’re used to living in a constant stream of water, hence why they generate ammonia instead of urea, because the sheer volume of water will dillute it away.
Both wild and farmed fish are highly susceptible to polluted food and water, which we really do not take enough care of these days lol.
As stated, it is because they don’t eat little crustaceans and krill in the Salmon farms. These critters have Astaxanthin in them (same stuff that makes flamingoes pink).
Astaxanthin is just the pigment that is naturally produced by these animals. It can be synthetically produced using yeast or algae - the synthetic stuff is chemically identical to the naturally-occurring stuff.
I feel like the implication when you see “farmed salmon is grey” is typically “and therefore it is bad/toxic/unhealthy/unnatural, etc”. Really, the color just means they just have less naturally occurring astaxanthin in their diet. Astaxanthin is an antioxidant and is good for you - and plays a role in the growth and development of the salmon. However, when it is produced synthetically and added into the fishes’ feed to give them color & aid their development, it has the same effect as if it were from krill.
There are problems with salmon farming (environmental and animal welfare issues, though there can also be disease and contaminant issues dependent on farm location/conditions), but the actual meat is not nutritionally very different from wild salmon. It can actually have similar or even higher omega-3 content because farmed salmon are fatter (though their fat is higher in omega-6 and lower in omega-3 than wild-caught salmon).
Wow, both of you taught me some neat stuff! Astaxanthin sounds like it plays multiple roles in the lifecycle of salmon and is one of the most powerful antioxidants as well, so it benefits those of us that eat salmon. It’s also the same reason/process that makes flamingos their beautiful color.
Unsurprising. A lot of ‘natural’ additives are actually worse for you than the synthetic alternative.
The most obvious example I can think of is almond flavouring. The natural variant often contains traces of cyanide, which is not great even in small quantities.
Bit of a tangent, but I think most people would be surprised how many of the plants in their garden are deadly. And because I don’t want to give anyone any ideas, usually that death is slow, incredibly painful, and involve you shitting yourself endlessly. Wear gloves and don’t burn stuff you don’t recognise.
Salmon is my number 1 food i want scientists to start growing in labs, cheaply and without animal harm.
We are far off still but i am rooting.
It’s big carnivorous ocean-dwelling fish for me - like tuna, swordfish, etc - both because many of their fisheries are in very poor health/are destructive to the environment and because of the heavy metals issue.
Cows would probably have a much bigger global impact. Do you have good reasons or just selfishly because you think they taste better?
I mean i gladly take lab grown beef, it would indeed be great for the climate. Any lab grown meat is positive.
But yeah i do selfishly just want to eat more salmon more often because currently sashimi grade salmon is just too expensive for my budget.
This was a weird time to go 0-100.
“Guaranteed not to turn pink in the can.”
I could go some feed pellets.