Farm Raised or Caught in the Wild?

Gorgeous Brian, both the plate and the location. BTW, I should add that my statement about the taste is from 2nd hand reports and mostly regarding salmon. I'm an Irishman who doesn't drink and a boater who doesn't eat fish.

Gents,

The posts in this thread were split from the Rising Fuel Prices thread. Although it looks tasty, it had absolutely nothing to do with the subject.

Returning to my farm raised granola bar and flash-frozen coffee now...

Hi,

Fish like many things can have a varied flavour depending upon where it grows and what it eats.

Wild Fish can be in a number of different regions with different minerals in the water and different food to eat. Farmed fish on the other hand are pretty static and are fed whatever the food producers see is best for them which no doubt includes some for of flavour enhancer even though it might not say it in plain language on the bag the food comes in.

I eat a bit of Salmon and have been lucky enough to try it all over the world, I have to say the nicest I have had in years was some cold smoked from Norway that was given to me as a gift, it was farmed.

For those who are not fully up to date on the farmed fish issue, specially salmon, I live in BC, home of hundreds of fish farms, the farms are destroying the wild salmon, empirical facts support this statement as has a recent judicial inquiry, disease is prevalent among the fish and is spreading to the wild species, also, there is now interbreeding between Pacific and weaker Atlantic fish, this will slowly reduce the strength and health of the wild pacific salmon, these issues are alive and well in Norway and Ireland but have been supresed by the farm owners. If one wants to follow this just google " Cohen Commission enquiry into decline of sockeye salmon in the Fraser river". Also google "Alexandria Morton wild salmon people".

The enquiry has shown a cover up has existed by the Federal Gov't fisheries scientists as to disease in the wild salmon population and also the effect of sea lice from fish farms killing the wild salmon smolts on there way to the open ocean, this is a serious issue and all fisf farms that operate in the ocean waters are contributing to these problems through drug s in the fish feed, cross breeding with weaker relatives and poor management of fish waste.
These are the insidious things that go on in the background, usually unknown to general public until someone actually does the years of research ( Mz Morton a scientist) and has here work peer reviewed, the only scientist whose work has been peer reviewed in this issue. Many restaurants in BC have stopped offering farmed salmon due to an informed public refusing to eat the crap.

There have been many different studies and they've found that farm raised fish are much higher in fat, and the wrong kind of fat such as Omega 6 than their wild counterparts in just about all types Shrimp, Tilapia, Salmon, etc. They have also found the meat to be of a mushier texture and taste can be muddy depending on the filtration system and food at each farm. There has also been many negative impacts on the surrounding water ecosystem around farms........There is no substitute for wild caught......especially shrimp......

Hi,

At the risk of this thread becoming political - The subject of this ladies discoveries has previously taken up space on YF Servers.

Not everyone is a believer in the accuracies of it all.

It seems there are also differing opinions on exactly what is on or in the fish in BC.

bias Salmon Farm Science

Farmed Salmon issues

I have property in Nova Scotia and can confirm the problems with salmon farming. The farms in my area have damaged the rest of the fisheries, created job loss, and hurt the local tourism and diving activities. Add to that the antibiotics their food is laced with, and a lack of flavor compared to wild caught, and its not a pretty picture. I personally won't buy or eat the stuff.

Google "Friends of Port Mouton Bay" and there's lots of links substantiating the issues.

I'm not outright against fish farming, and know of a practice being looked at where large spherical cages are anchored far offshore, and an automatic feeding system in a huge buoy feeds them for a week between being tended. Word is the lice problem is pretty much eliminated, and the waste issues go away due to the depth, current, and water column volume issues being so much better than the closed in areas. It hasn't gone mainstream, but if you google "Aquapod" there's a web site that describes the commercial variant of the beast.

A couple years ago I heard that the Japanese had built a large tanker which cruises at very low speeds, and in the hold are tuna which get a constant flow of fresh water. Not sure what they supposedly eat. After a couple years cruising the Pacific, the operators then harvest the tuna with the resultant revenues paying for everything. Seems too good to be true (but is a fun story), and I can't find a thing on the net to substantiate it. Who knows, it could generate a whole new type a gourmet sushi superyacht!

Yummy in the tummy

Don't have a dog in this race; but one of best salmon my palate enjoyed was shot in a babbling body of water in Idaho.

KIWI ..yes...their report is biased as per their own admission...one must remember there are millions of dollars at stake here along with the accompanying jobs etc...all to the detriment of the natural resource.

All one can really contribute here is: "If I were a (wild or farmed) fish (and had internet access etc.), I'd be pretty distraught myself by the ease with which all the human-beings here calmly post truly graphic and horrendous pictures of my fellow fish, cooked and served up in undoubtedly tasty Asiatic spices and coconut sauces etc., or openly and freely discuss how salmon should be smoked...? Frankly, how would you like it if fish were to openly discuss how best to prepare human-beings by smoking methods - the most recent recipes are northern European and date back to the 1940s but correct me if I'm in error...?!"

I've heard we are quite tasty and I'm sure we grace a few tables for exotic tastes around the world. I know that the Donner Party and the survivors of the Essex had their fill. Fortunately I'm sure 'leg of NYCAP' is too tough and sour for most. Maybe if I were more domesticated and farmed it would help.