| ECOLOGY |
Contaminants in farmed salmon Farm-raised salmon hold more persistent chlorinated contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins, than those caught in the wild, according to a research collaboration led by environmental chemistry professor Ronald A. Hites at Indiana University [Science, 303, 226 (2004)]. In addition, farmed salmon bought in European cities hold more contaminants than equivalent fillets picked up in North American cities. (Much of the farmed salmon sold in the U.S. comes from Canada and Chile; salmon sold in Europe are usually raised in European waters.) The researchers suspect that farm-raised salmon accumulate more contaminants because of what they eat. Feed used on salmon farms consists of fish oil and meal made from small oceanic fish. The oil concentrates the contaminants. And perhaps European feed holds a higher load of contaminants, the researchers say, because it comes from the more industrial waters of Europe's North Atlantic compared with the waters off North and South America. |
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