Wild Salmon: Additional Reading

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The overwhelming majority of salmon available in the U.S. today is farmed salmon, which you will see sold in grocery stores, fish markets and restaurants as "Atlantic" salmon. But at Raging River, we believe only in WILD salmonƒ 100% natural and pure, caught in the clear, cold, pristine waters of the North Pacific. Wild salmon offers a wide range of significant benefits vs. the more common farmed variety:

CULINARY SUPERIORITY
Wild salmon offers a culinary variety unmatched by farmed salmon (or for that matter, virtually any protein source!). There are five species of wild Pacific salmon (King, Coho, Sockeye, Keta and Pink), all with their own distinctive flavors, colors, textures, and moisture levels. Taste, explore, compare and enjoy all five!

THE RIGHT FATS
Just like people, salmon are leaner and healthier when they exercise and eat well. Farm-raised fish --- which spend their lives in a pen --- have more total fat than their wild counterparts, and their ratio of beneficial Omega-3 fats to bad, saturated fats is much lower. Farmed Atlantic salmon are fattened on fish meal, corn, or soy pellets, unlike the wild salmon, which hunt down their food making them leaner.

PURE & NATURAL
Wild salmon is 100% natural in flavor, color and Omega-3 content; the same cannot always be said of farm-raised Atlantic salmon. Farmed salmon is often artificially colored with added synthetic pigments to mask its naturally-occurring, unappetizing pale gray color. By contrast, wild salmon eat an all-natural marine diet rich in krill and shrimp; these natural prey give wild salmon its beautiful meat color, which ranges from pink to orange to red across species. Also, farmed salmon are fed a steady diet of antibiotics to grow, another difference vs. wild salmon. Finally, the fish meal and fish oils fed to farmed salmon have a direct impact on PCB levels (a industrial byproduct which has been identified as a probable human carcinogen); A report from the Environmental Working Group highlights PCB levels found in farmed salmon samples it purchased at retail were far higher than any other protein source. With all that considered, it is clear that on every measure the purity of the all natural, wild salmon simply cannot be matched.

WHAT ABOUT MERCURY?
Deep water fish, predator fish, and fish that live many years (such as swordfish, shark, marlin, and large tuna) tend to accumulate the most contaminants, such as mercury, and may contain potentially harmful levels. Conversely, wild salmon do not fit these behaviors and have not been the focus of the FDA's food advisory on Mercury in Seafood. In fact, data from a recently completed two-year study by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation confirms that mercury levels are not an issue in wild Alaskan salmon.

SUSTAINABLE & ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE
Wild salmon from Alaska is widely recognized as an extremely well-managed, environmentally responsible and sustainable fishery, resulting in it being recommended by the most respected leaders of the environmental community as a responsible seafood choice. For example, the Audubon Society lists wild salmon among its very best choices for recommended seafood (by contrast, they list farmed Atlantic salmon as one of the worst!). Similarly, Monterey Bay Aquarium's signature Seafood Watch program also lists wild Alaskan salmon at the very top of its recommended list. The Marine Stewardship Council, an independent non-profit certification organization backed by the World Wildlife Fund has awarded its eco-label to wild Alaskan salmon in recognition of the fishery meeting its strict environmental and sustainability standards.

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