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There’s a saying in the seafood industry: the West eats cod, the East eats mackerel and everyone eats salmon. It’s not surprising that this pretty pink, suppertime all-rounder frequently polls as the world’s most popular fish. What other fish has the vibrant copper color of wild Alaskan sockeye, covers 50 shades of trendy coral pink through all its varieties and can be salt cured and oak smoked to produce the taste sensation that is smoked salmon?
Where it's from: These salmon species use the entire Pacific Rim coastline, ranging from South Korea to Southern California and northwards to Russia and Alaska. Pacific salmon are currently expanding along coastal areas of the Arctic Ocean.
There are a variety of Pacific salmon products carrying the MSC label in stores and restaurants worldwide, from prepared meals to fresh and frozen salmon. According to the Wild Salmon Center (WSC), a leading group working to protect and conserve wild salmon strongholds around the entire North Pacific, Alaska ranks as one of the world’s healthiest and best managed fisheries whose limited harvests don’t endanger the long-term health of fish stocks. A very high percentage of Alaska salmon fisheries are MSC certified, as are a number of Russian fisheries.
Although some salmon populations on the West Coast are mentioned as endangered below, sustainable MSC fisheries do exist in this area and products are available with the blue fish label that guarantees the fish is indeed sustainably caught and not on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) list.
Salmon are anadromous fish, which means they are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean where they spend most of their adult life, then return to fresh water to reproduce.
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The fairest member of the salmon family, pink salmon is lightly colored, low in fat and mildly flavored. It is fished in huge quantities in America and the vast majority ends up processed into a can or pouch. Canned salmon works well with various dairy and carb combos such as salmon and broad bean pasta bake, salmon dauphinois, and quick salmon kedgeree with lime and coriander.
Commercially fished from Washington up to Alaska, pink salmon is the most abundant Pacific salmon and a smart seafood choice because it is sustainably managed and generally not overfished.
In 2018, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimated global consumption of 123 million tonnes Ready to Cook Equivalent of poultry versus just 3.2 million tonnes of farmed and wild salmon.
Where it's from: Most commercially available Atlantic salmon is farmed, providing about 72 per cent of the world’s total salmon harvest. Atlantic salmon is farmed across the globe but by far the two largest producers are Norway and Chile, whose coastlines provide optimum conditions for production. Farming takes place predominantly in open-net pens in sheltered waters such as fjords or bays. Scotland, Canada, the Faroe Islands, Tasmania, Ireland and Iceland also farm Atlantic salmon. The US is the world’s biggest importer of Atlantic salmon, Germany, France and the UK are traditionally major markets, while China is the fastest-growing market. In China, fresh Atlantic salmon fillets are often served sashimi-style in Japanese sushi restaurants, but frozen, fresh or smoked salmon is increasingly found in modern retail outlets and through e-commerce channels. In Japan, Atlantic salmon is popular in a range of sushi dishes such as nigri and hosomaki. Most of the fish are imported, chiefly from Norway and Chile, though recently there are initiatives to farm Atlantic salmon in Japan and China.
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) is an independent non-profit organization that sets a voluntary standard for responsibly farmed salmon. The certification process is carried out by third-party auditors and if certified, the ASC logo can be used on pack as a trusted indication that the seafood came from a truly responsible farmer who seeks to minimize environmental and social impacts. These include reducing pollution from pesticides and waste in the surrounding seas, limiting reliance on chemicals and medication, and improving working conditions.
Farmed salmon produces a fraction of the carbon generated by the beef industry. The carbon footprint for farmed salmon is 2.9 carbon equivalents per kilogram of edible product compared to as much as 30 for cattle.
Nick Wyke is a journalist and food writer who is passionate about local, seasonal and sustainable produce.
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