salmon

maeruthumb

when I looked up baked salmon, the wild was 100 calories per serving and the generic farm raised baked was 233 cal/4oz serving. Anyone have an idea why?

graelwyn

I would guess it has something to do with what the farm raised salmon are fed.
I stick to wild salmon myself these days, where possible, for the taste and the lower calorie content.
If not that, I have scottish salmon.

MissCheese

The farmed salmon have a higer percentage of fat, I think essentially because they are fed as much as they can eat whereas a wild salmon has to hunt for its food.

themonkey75

Farmed salmon don't get as much exercise, they are kept in a pen and fed grains etc to fatten them up quick, so they're more fatty. Wild ones move more distance and eat a more varied diet, so are more lean and muscly.

Rilke

the wild was 100 calories per serving

How big a serving?

If you plug a serving size of 4 oz (113 g) into any salmon entry, they are all 200-260 calories.

Edit: Apparently coho salmon is an exception, coming in at 160 calories for 4 oz . . . but wild sockeye, which is the species of most wild salmon in markets around here, is 245 for 4 oz.

bcattoes

Farmed is usually fattier, but those calories don't look correct. According to the USDA, the differnece is not that great. 3 oz of wild caught Atlantic salmon has 121 calories. 3 oz of farmed Atlantic salmon has 171.

I go for wild caught when I can get it but it the fat in salmon is one of the things that makes it so healthy so more is not necessarily a bad thing.

doubglass

when I looked up baked salmon, the wild was 100 calories per serving and the generic farm raised baked was 233 cal/4oz serving. Anyone have an idea why?

Different species of salmon have different oil content and subtle taste differences. Generally the wild caught species are oiler and may have higher calories. King (Chinook) and Sockeye have the highest calories per ounce. Keta (chum or dog salmon the lowest.) Atlantic farm raised is close to Keta. Wild caught Atlantic is higher. You will likely find that wild caught Pacific species taste best. Keta is called Dog Salmon because is so low in oil in doesn't taste as good as other species. Eskimos used it for dog food. Professional fishermen used it for chum. It is marketed as Keta for obvious reasons.

stonerdude

Never eat farm raised fish as they are fed corn and soy! Omega 3's get replaced with Omega 6's and your body becomes inflamed.

maeruthumb

thanks everyone for the replys. Its wild sockeye, it seems dry when I bake it, so maybe the calorie content is lower. I usually have a 4oz cooked serving.

halarson24

Here is a short discussion about the benefits and risks of having fish as part of a well balanced diet; wild salmon is fattier, but those are the kinds of fats (omega-3's) that we need more of. Heard the saying "you are what you ate"?, more truthfully, "you are what you food ate"...wild salmon is more nutrient dense than farm raised just like hens that are eating a varied diet produce eggs that are much healthier than conventionally raised hens that are just fed some sort of chicken chow.

Hope this helps!

Holly