What’s the safest fish to eat?

We know it can be confusing to know which fish to purchase and eat. There are so many factors involved: fresh vs frozen, farmed vs wild, high mercury vs low contaminant, and possibly even more things to consider if you have health or allergy concerns. As a quick FYI, mercury in fish comes from coal pollution. When the pollutants from coal plants are released into the environment, the mercury is then rained down into the oceans. The longer a fish lives, the bigger it gets as it consumes more and more other animals in the sea. This is why bigger fish like tuna and swordfish have higher levels of mercury because all the marine life they are consuming are also affected by mercury. The tuna companies we rely on are Safe Catch and Wild Planet as they catch smaller fish, use BPA-free cans, and catch fish using poles instead of nets (which kill other animals).

So yes, there is a lot to think about in terms of eating fish. At our 6 restaurants, we choose to serve certified organic salmon from the seas of Ireland. We love and appreciate the health benefits that come from the omega 3’s that are present in salmon. Omega 3’s are great for brain health, heart health, cancer prevention, and also contribute high calcium and vitamin D levels to your diet  It is recommended by many health experts to eat 3 servings a week of salmon. Salmon are a low mercury fish because of the diet they consume so it is a safe fish for pregnant women. We find this article super helpful in breaking down the benefits of salmon.

The reason we choose certified organic, over the wild selection, is the controlled environment of the Irish sea – from the contaminant levels, to purity of water, to the feed that the fish ingest. The company we purchase from, Clean Fish, is certified by multiple organic organizations, which gives us the comfort that independent European agencies are reviewing protocol, practices, and procedures of the Clean Fish company. The salmon we serve at our restaurants is SO delicious and many of our guests share that it is some of the best tasting salmon they have ever eaten. Let us know what you think!

A note about wild salmon: this also offers wonderful health benefits, so when we are out to eat at a restaurant, we are comfortable ordering wild salmon from Alaska (Pacific Ocean) and the North Atlantic. Salmon does have the possibility of being over fished, and our oceans contain unknown contaminant levels (metals especially) so we keep a watch on what is happening in the world of fish by regularly checking Seafood Watch.Org.