Wild Salmon, you say?

[SethG]

Salmon Gone Wild, Or Is It Just Sold That Way?

The New York Times has the goods, testing supposedly wild salmon from numerous retailers (some of them among the most expensive in New York) and finding most of them to be farmed. Upon confronting some of the retailers, Marian Burros gets what can only be described as pretty fishy answers.

Today, "fresh wild salmon" is abundant, even in the winter when little of it is caught. In fact, it seems a little too abundant to be true.  Tests performed for The New York Times in March on salmon sold as wild by eight New York City stores... showed that the fish at six of the eight were farm raised.

Peter Leonard, an owner of Leonard's, said ... his sales clerks "must have gotten the salmon from the wrong pile in the back."

...

At M. Slavin & Sons in Brooklyn, the store manager... said: ..."All wild salmon in Canada is farm raised."

Edited April 9, 2005 by SethG (log)

[Fat Guy]

Finally, some real food journalism in the Times. This is exactly the kind of thing a paper with the Times's resources should be doing. Bravo!

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The retail fish sector in the United States is a disgrace. It's going to take years of consumer education and regulatory pressure to get it anywhere near to a state of respectability.

In the meantime, I'll be buying Costco's very good we-have-no-problem-admitting-it's-farmed salmon, thank you very much.

[SethG]

What I'm having a hard time figuring out is this: I've noticed a difference in color, texture, and flavor between wild and farmed salmon, such that I've made "never go back" comments in the past.

I purchased salmon marked wild most recently at Fairway in, I think, February. And I felt pretty good about its quality.

Does this mean:

a. I've been lucky and always purchased the real deal?

b. I've fallen victim to the placebo effect?

or c. I've purchased farmed salmon that's been falsely promoted as wild by unscrupulous wholesalers/retailers-- but who may have picked the best of their farmed salmon in order to try to pass it off as wild?

Should I stop paying more if any of these is true? Aren't I still getting something for my extra money in any event? Or has the Times now spoiled the magic with its reality-based coverage?

Edited April 9, 2005 by SethG (log)

[Bux]

My butcher loved the article almost as much as my fish monger loved reading about mad cows.

[emmapeel]

I purchased salmon marked wild most recently at Fairway in, I think, February.  And I felt pretty good about its quality.

Should I stop paying more if any of these is true?  Aren't I still getting something for my extra money in any event?  Or has the Times now spoiled the magic with its reality-based coverage?

←

I also buy "wild salmon" at Fairway and felt good about it, and like you, I'm not so sure now. The issue for me is, that the "wild salmon" at Fairway tastes better than the farm-raised but I am not happy about the price not insuring authenticity. I almost cannot bring myself to purchase it again without thinking I'm getting ripped-off. I cannot find the article, but I assume Fairway was not on the list? (Not that it would insure anything, my assumption is they all buy from the same fish markets.)

I would say, if the $8 increase makes a better meal and you prefer that, then buy the wild salmon. I only wish that the price differential were closer, such as organic meat. I buy the organic meats and the prices are not much more than regular meats, therefore palatable.

Edited to say, I've found the article. I guess I'll be going to Eli's.

Edited April 9, 2005 by emmapeel (log)

[SethG]

If I recall correctly, the Fairway price for wild salmon was nowhere even close to $19, much less $23, a pound. It was more like $12. I don't know if I can bring myself to pay $23 a pound for any Salmon that isn't smoked!

Edited April 9, 2005 by SethG (log)

[emmapeel]

If I recall correctly, the Fairway price for wild salmon was nowhere even close to $19, much less $23, a pound.  It was more like $12.  I don't know if I can bring myself to pay $23 a pound for any Salmon that isn't smoked!

←

Thanks, the only saving grace (and it isn't really knowing how slowly buracracy moves in this city) is that the culprits may have to deal Gretchen Dykstra, (I hear she can be lethal) and consumer affairs. I'm hoping to see them take a hit.

No, I paid $20 per lb. at Fairway recently.

Edited April 9, 2005 by emmapeel (log)

[jamiemaw]

At M. Slavin & Sons in Brooklyn, the store manager, Phil Cohen, said: "Our salmon is from Canada. All wild salmon in Canada is farm raised."

Wow. What a tremendous vindication for the Canadian fishery.

The aptly-named Slavin also deals in Chilean sea bass, bluefin and a number of other endangered species. Perhaps even more frightening though, is how a spokesman for a major supplier of portioned fish product could be so formidably ignorant.

It's exactly this kind of ignorance that has perpetuated the notion--at the consumer level--that if it smells like fish and swims like a fish it must be a fish. As anyone who has been anywhere remotely near a fish farm will tell you though, farmed salmon is decidedly not. Here it's reserved exclusively for tourists and drunks.

Unfortunately, not only is the evidence increasingly conclusive that farms damage wild stock, especially through sea lice, it also has the effect of depressing prices for wild product, which has had an insidious effect on fishery incomes.

If Mercedes dealerships were to begin selling Kias but with three stars on the bonnet, regulatory authorities would likely investigate. Now that your Eliot Spitzer has finished off the predatory thugs in other industries, perhaps the opportunity is at hand to clean up this sorry mess, and call it what it is--a fraud.

Edited April 10, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[emmapeel]

It's exactly this kind of ignorance that has perpetuated the notion--at the consumer level--that if it smells like fish and swims like a fish it must be a fish. As anyone who has been anywhere remotely near a fish farm will tell you though, farmed salmon is decidedly not. Here it's reserved for exclusively for tourists and drunks. 

Unfortunately, not only is the evidence increasingly conclusive that farms damage wild stock, especially through sea lice, it also has the effect of depressing prices for wild product, which has had an insidious effect on fishery incomes.

←

Yes, the Times did an article on this as well.

The new findings, by Martin Krkosek and Mark A. Lewis of the University of Alberta and John P. Volpe, a former colleague there who is now at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, are described in the current issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a British journal.

They add more fuel to the intense debate over the wisdom of turning to aquaculture to replace stocks of wild fish, many of which have crashed in recent decades under the pressure of commercial and even recreational fishing.

In fact, the researchers said their findings were so startling that they suggested that the parasite problem occurred wherever wild fish shared the ocean with fish farms.

[Fat Guy]

a.  I've been lucky and always purchased the real deal?

b.  I've fallen victim to the placebo effect?

or c.  I've purchased farmed salmon that's been falsely promoted as wild by unscrupulous wholesalers/retailers-- but who may have picked the best of their farmed salmon in order to try to pass it off as wild?

Maybe, but the answer is probably d. You can't get good fish retail. This problem is endemic; the salmon story is just an illustration of the poor quality of one type of retail fish in the marketplace.

In particular, if you're buying pieces of fish -- filets, steaks -- you're basically screwed. You have a better chance of getting something decent if you buy whole fish. Of course you're not likely to buy a whole salmon or tuna.

I can't wait for the story they do demonstrating that 1) most of the fish being sold as fresh was actually frozen and defrosted, and 2) that the average piece of fresh fish being sold retail is something like a week old.

[winesonoma]

I only eat fish that I catch. That means that I don't eat much fish since I'm a fly fisherman. Even for shark.

[Chris Amirault]

Great work -- and as Steven says, let's see more of it.

My favorite quote:

At M. Slavin & Sons in Brooklyn, the store manager, Phil Cohen, said: "Our salmon is from Canada. All wild salmon in Canada is farm raised."

I guess those salmon were raised on Animal Farm, eh?

[Rachel Perlow]

This isn't specifically about the article in question, but it's bothered me, and this seems an appropriate thread... Anyone else notice this Lean Cuisine commercial, you know the ones where there are a bunch of women complaining about what they ate for dinner last night, usually something stupid or bad for them. Well the one where they are at a spa laying on chaise lounges with white robes and facial masks on... The one who was "good" rhapsodizes about "Wild Salmon with blah blah blah... from Lean Cuisine." Then they cut to the box showing the frozen meal, and it doesn't say Wild it just says Salmon. And something made mass market like this, of course it isn't Wild Salmon. Isn't this false advertising or something? Who can I bitch to?

I checked their website, here's the page for the meal in question, Salmon with Basil, which is described as "Wild salmon on a bed of whole wheat orzo pasta with yellow and orange carrots and spinach in a basil sauce." No ingredient listing on the website.

I sent their customer service an email:

Re: Salmon with Basil the product and commercial featuring it.

This product is described as "Wild Salmon" on this website and in the commercial. However the title of the meal is Salmon with Basil, not Wild Salmon with Basil. Wild Salmon is a specific product that means it is an ocean caught fish. 

Are you really using ocean caught salmon in this product or is it farm raised salmon?  If farm raised, I believe your advertising is misleading when you indicate that it is "Wild Salmon." 

There was a New York Times article about fish retailers trying to pass off farm raised salmon as wild salmon, that we are discussing on eGullet.org. Here is a link to the discussion thread. I would appreciate your comments regarding the type of salmon Lean Cuisine uses, and if your commercial and product description is misleading the public. 

Thank you.

Rachel Perlow

I'll post any response I get here. Edited April 9, 2005 by Rachel Perlow (log)

[ghostrider]

Thanks, the only saving grace (and it isn't really knowing how slowly buracracy moves in this city) is that the culprits may have to deal Gretchen Dykstra, (I hear she can be lethal) and consumer affairs. I'm hoping to see them take a hit.

←

Gretchen may be lethal on the culprits - I sincerely hope that she is - but in the meantime I'm finding her a hoot to read:

Gretchen Dykstra, New York City's commissioner of consumer affairs, said, "Labeling any item to be something it's not is a classic deceptive practice."

Gets my nomination for Tautology Of The Year.

She added that her agency would "be investigating whether these stores are in fact improperly baiting their customers."

I'd love to see her give some examples of stores properly baiting their customers.

[docsconz]

She added that her agency would "be investigating whether these stores are in fact improperly baiting their customers."

I'd love to see her give some examples of stores properly baiting their customers.

←

At least something is using bait. We know it wasn't used on the salmon!

[emmapeel]

Gretchen may be lethal on the culprits - I sincerely hope that she is - but in the meantime I'm finding her a hoot to read:

Gretchen Dykstra, New York City's commissioner of consumer affairs, said, "Labeling any item to be something it's not is a classic deceptive practice."

Gets my nomination for Tautology Of The Year.

She added that her agency would "be investigating whether these stores are in fact improperly baiting their customers."

I'd love to see her give some examples of stores properly baiting their customers.

←

I had to look this up...

tau·tol·o·gy: 1. Needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy. 2. An instance of such repetition.

You are so right! It is ridiculous. Such is the sadness of politics...no one says it like it is (or can risk saying it like it is). I take her statement as a veiled threat, to mean, "we're on to you, and if the public really puts up a stink, we have no recourse but to deal with it". The really sad thing is in New York, we keep putting up with it.

[jamiemaw]

Here’s how it looks for us right now. I buy most of my fish from Dave Moorehead at Longliner Seafoods on Granville Island. The shop is about 40 metres from the ocean and half a kilometre from the Fishermens Wharf.

At this time of the year though, that might be a little misleading. Most of the wild Spring (King) salmon is coming via reefer from Oregon. Moorehead estimates about a 48-hour turnaround. Sockeye in April is local-FAS (frozen at sea). There is no shame in FAS, as long as you admire the ‘quick-freeze, slow-thaw principle’; it’s barely indistinguishable from fresh product if properly handled.

Pricing:

Wild Spring at CDN $11 per pound (US $8.99)

FAS Sockeye $7.50 per pound (US $6.14)

In the summer, these prices will drop as local salmon comes to market. According to Moorehead, that fish will usually be less than 24 hours old by the time it hits the ice at Longliner and may even still be in rigor mortis. Some of the northern river-run salmon is brought live to market.

Like a growing number of responsible fishmongers, Moorhead stopped selling farmed product some time ago. But it is currently selling in the range of $6 to $7 per pound (US $5.72).

So the decision is a relatively easy one: With a little foresight, budget salmon-lovers can order FAS product for pennies more per serving than farmed and thaw it slowly in the refrigerator.

The marketing challenge for the fishery is to convince consumers that FAS product is superior to farmed 'fresh'. At the restaurant level, of course, the challenge is the same, but must also address the inconsistent size of fish as well--the farmed product is a dimension-cut commodity like lumber and ideally suited to three-ring binder concept kitchens.

Edited April 9, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[scordelia]

I wonder how honest Whole Foods (or Whole Paycheck) is about farm raised v. wild caught? They do scrupulously label all the fish.

[ghostrider]

I had to look this up...

←

This is exactly how I learned the word some years ago, & why I never forgot it.

Gotta love dictionaries.

(OT I know.)

I too am curious about Whole Foods, particularly since, for reasons of location, they are my fish market of choice by default.

[SethG]

Never mind.

Edited April 10, 2005 by SethG (log)

[robyn]

I can't speak for anywhere else. But we buy most of our fish here in Florida at Publix. It is labeled very carefully (fresh - frozen - farm-raised - wild - Florida - US - non-US - color added - no color added - etc. - etc.). Salmon is - of course - not local to us. And the farm raised is about $5/pound - wild $15/pound (prices drop during sales). I'm not sure that the wild is better. It is different. But - I like salmon - eat it often - and - most of the time - prefer to spend the $5/pound bargain price for the farm raised stuff. Robyn

[scordelia]

I too am curious about Whole Foods, particularly since, for reasons of location, they are my fish market of choice by default.

←

Mine too! Which is why I raised the question. Can anyone answer this? Any Whole Food employees lurking aroud eG?

[jamiemaw]

I can't speak for anywhere else.  But we buy most of our fish here in Florida at Publix.  It is labeled very carefully (fresh - frozen - farm-raised - wild - Florida - US - non-US - color added - no color added - etc. - etc.).  Salmon is - of course - not local to us.  And the farm raised is about $5/pound - wild $15/pound (prices drop during sales).  I'm not sure that the wild is better.  It is different.  But - I like salmon - eat it often - and - most of the time - prefer to spend the $5/pound bargain price for the farm raised stuff.  Robyn

←

I'm afraid the price disparities in many US markets force consumers' hands like yours, Robyn--it's just too expensive (3X) for many to take a stand.

Where is the farmed product from? Canada, Chile, Europe?

Thanks,

Jamie

Edited April 10, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[SethG]

I can't speak for anywhere else.  But we buy most of our fish here in Florida at Publix.  It is labeled very carefully (fresh - frozen - farm-raised - wild - Florida - US - non-US - color added - no color added - etc. - etc.).  Salmon is - of course - not local to us.  And the farm raised is about $5/pound - wild $15/pound (prices drop during sales).  I'm not sure that the wild is better.  It is different.  But - I like salmon - eat it often - and - most of the time - prefer to spend the $5/pound bargain price for the farm raised stuff.  Robyn

←

This is probably wise, since (given the implications of the article) if you sprang for the $15 product you'd likely be spending more for mislabeled farm-raised salmon. Stores in New York use labels too-- only it turns out that labels lie.

I'd like to see a follow-up article from the Times this summer, when the genuine wild product should be easier to obtain.

[Sam Salmon]

In the past here I've posted a few times about farmed Salmon provenance being misrepresented in the marketplace-this is another gem that highlights PT Barnum's old saying.

Stores Say Wild Salmon, but Tests Say Farm Bred

By MARIAN BURROS Published: April 10, 2005

Fresh wild salmon from West Coast waters used to have a low profile in New York: it generally migrated eastward in cans. But a growing concern about the safety of farm-raised fish has given fresh wild salmon cachet. It has become the darling of chefs, who praise its texture and flavor as superior to the fatty, neutral-tasting farmed variety, and many shoppers are willing to pay far more for it than for farmed salmon.

Today, "fresh wild salmon" is abundant, even in the winter when little of it is caught. In fact, it seems a little too abundant to be true.

Tests performed for The New York Times in March on salmon sold as wild by eight New York City stores, going for as much as $29 a pound, showed that the fish at six of the eight were farm raised.

Click Here for the rest of the article