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New Research Reveals Why You Should Eat More Mackerel And Less Salmon
Researchers have found that farmed salmon production results in a decrease in many essential nutrients compared to the wild fish used as feed. Consuming wild fish directly could improve nutrient intake and reduce pressure on marine resources. The study suggests dietary changes and industry improvements to enhance both human health and environmental sustainability. People are encouraged to include more wild fish like mackerel, anchovies, and herring in their diets. These oily fish are key components in farmed salmon feed and are rich in essential nutrients such as calcium, B12, and omega-3 fatty acids, which are often underrepresented in our diets.
Scientists have discovered that the production of farmed salmon results in a net loss of vital dietary nutrients. They suggest that consuming wild 'feed' species directly could improve our health and decrease the demand for limited marine resources in aquaculture.
Researchers analyzed the flow of nutrients from the edible species of wild fish used as feed, to the farmed salmon they were fed to. They found a decrease in six out of nine nutrients in the salmon fillet – calcium, iodine, iron, omega-3, vitamin B12, and vitamin A, but increased levels of selenium and zinc.
Most wild 'feed' fish met dietary nutrient recommendations at smaller portion sizes than farmed Atlantic salmon, including omega-3 fatty acids which are known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Health Benefits of Diversifying Fish Consumption"What we're seeing is that most species of wild fish used as feed have a similar or greater density and range of micronutrients than farmed salmon fillets," said lead author, Dr. David Willer, Zoology Department, University of Cambridge. "Whilst still enjoying eating salmon and supporting sustainable growth in the sector, people should consider eating a greater and wider variety of wild fish species like sardines, mackerel, and anchovies, to get more essential nutrients straight to their plate."
In the UK, 71% of adults have insufficient vitamin D in winter, and teenage girls and women often have deficiencies of iodine, selenium, and iron. Yet while, 24% of adults ate salmon weekly, only 5.4% ate mackerel, 1% anchovies, and just 0.4% herring.
"Making a few small changes to our diet around the type of fish that we eat can go a long way to changing some of these deficiencies and increasing the health of both our population and planet," said Willer.
The researchers found consuming one-third of current food-grade wild-feed fish directly would be the most efficient way of maximizing nutrients from the sea.
"Marine fisheries are important local and global food systems, but large catches are being diverted towards farm feeds. Prioritizing nutritious seafood for people can help improve both diets and ocean sustainability," said senior author Dr. James Robinson, Lancaster University.
This approach could help address global nutrient deficiencies say the team of scientists from the University of Cambridge, Lancaster University, University of Stirling, and the University of Aberdeen. The study was published in the journal, Nature Food.
Comparison of Nutrient Levels in FishThe scientists calculated the balance of nutrients in edible portions of whole wild fish, used within pelleted salmon feed in Norway, compared to the farmed salmon fillets. They focused on nine nutrients that are essential in human diets and concentrated in seafood – iodine, calcium, iron, vitamin B12, vitamin A, omega-3 (EPA + DHA), vitamin D, zinc, and selenium.
The wild fish studied included Pacific and Peruvian anchoveta, and Atlantic herring, mackerel, sprat, and blue whiting – which are all marketed and consumed as seafood.
They found that these six feed species contained a greater, or similar, concentration of nutrients than the farmed salmon fillets. Quantities of calcium were over five times higher in wild-feed fish fillets than in salmon fillets, iodine was four times higher, and iron, omega-3, vitamin B12, and vitamin A were over 1.5 times higher. Wildfeed species and salmon had comparable quantities of vitamin D.
Zinc and selenium were found to be higher in salmon than the wild feed species – the researchers say these extra quantities are due to other salmon feed ingredients and are a real mark of progress in the salmon sector.
"Farmed salmon is an excellent source of nutrition, and is one of the best converters of feed of any farmed animal, but for the industry to grow it needs to become better at retaining key nutrients that it is fed. This can be done through the more strategic use of feed ingredients, including from fishery by-products and sustainably-sourced, industrial-grade fish such as sand eels," said Dr. Richard Newton of the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, whose team also included Professor Dave Little, Dr. Wesley Malcorps and Björn Kok.
"It was interesting to see that we're effectively wasting around 80% of the calcium and iodine from the feed fish – especially when we consider that women and teenage girls are often not getting enough of these nutrients."
Willer said "These numbers have been underacknowledged by the aquaculture industry's standard model of quoting Fish In Fish Out (FIFO) ratios rather than looking at nutrients.
The researchers would like to see a nutrient retention metric adopted by the fishing and aquaculture industries. They believe that if combined with the current FIFO ratio, the industry could become more efficient, and reduce the burden on fish stocks that also provide seafood. The team is building a standardized and robust vehicle for integrating the nutrient retention metric into industry practice.
"We'd like to see the industry expand but not at a cost to our oceans," said Willer. "We'd also like to see a greater variety of affordable, convenient, and appealing products made of wild 'feed' fish and fish and salmon by-products for direct human consumption."
Reference: "Wild fish consumption can balance nutrient retention in farmed fish" by David F. Willer, Richard Newton, Wesley Malcorps, Bjorn Kok, David Little, Anneli Lofstedt, Baukje de Roos and James P. W. Robinson, 20 March 2024, Nature Food.DOI: 10.1038/s43016-024-00932-z
The research was funded by the Scottish Government's Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS), a Royal Society University Research Fellowship, a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship a Henslow Fellowship at Murray Edwards College, and the University of Cambridge.
"Meat Sommelier" Dominik Koch: Seafood Industry Needs To Catch Up With Dry-aging Trend
Theodora, a trendy Mediterranean-style restaurant in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A., sells a dry-aged whole branzino for USD 78 (EUR 72).
"It's so tender; it slips right from the bones," a server at the restaurant recently told Grub Street.
The restaurant also serves dry-aged Ora King salmon, striped bass, and rainbow trout, fetching a tidy premium for each.
At Il Totano, also in New York City, the best-seller is dry-aged kampachi in passionfruit broth, sold for USD 42 (EUR 39).
"It sounds like it makes no sense. People have been told their entire life, 'You want to eat fish as fresh as possible,'" Il Totano Owner Harold Dieterle said. "When you dry-age, the flavors and the umami really develop."
While nothing new – fish has been dry-aged for thousands of years in Asia – the trend picked up after Australian chef Josh Niland popularized the technique as a means of extending the life of seafood he purchased for his sustainability-themed restaurant.
"At many top restaurants in the world that serve fish, the best practice is, 'Let's buy another fish because yesterday's isn't as good as today's is.' That's where a lot of fish is going in the [garbage] bin," Niland told National Geographic. "But, if I know that a whiting is amazing for days one to seven, I've got ample opportunity to make sure 95 percent of that fish goes on the plate in an excellent condition. The only way we can do that is through dry handling."
One of Niland's signature dishes is a yellowfin tuna cheeseburger served with dry-aged tuna and swordfish bacon, and he's had success with Spanish mackerel, mahi, and kingfish due to their high oil content.
"After five days, the fish firms up in its texture and the flavor makes your mouth water. We're able to pair it with a vegetable we might not otherwise be able to one day one," he said. "By dry-aging, it gives us a better definition of flavor in the fish and it really helps us prepare menus better.
At the forefront of this trend is Saulgau, Germany-based Dry Ager, a company established 40 years ago as a specialist in the cooling and drying of meat. In 2018, after hearing from its representatives and customers in Asia about demand for dry-aging seafood, the firm began experimenting with using its dry-aging boxes – which retail for between USD 5,695 (EUR 5,260) for a 44-pound capacity or USD 8,495 (EUR 7,850) for a 220-pound capacity – for use with fish.
Sales have picked up, especially to the foodservice sector, but also to "fish butcheries," another rising trend, according to Dry-Ager "meat sommelier" Dominik Koch, who is also the company's key account manager.
Koch said the global industry could benefit from seeing how well dry-aged seafood is now selling globally.
"Every seafood company that I speak to talks about value-added and trying to get more money for their product. I think this is a perfect solution," Koch said. "This is a way you can upcharge menus, and you save on waste. It. Fish can be in the Dry-Ager for 10 days or two weeks, so you have no stress because you know if you don't use it today, you can use it tomorrow."
Dry-aged fish can be used for most food applications, from ...
Good Fish Numbers At Inshore Reefs
Tom Martin with a big cod. Inshore In the last week we haven't had many good opportunities for anglers to poke out the front however there has been the odd weather window in which some angers have taken advantage of.
This time of year the early morning and late afternoon Westerly and South Westerly winds can prove to get the inshore reefs fired up!
We have seen some really big grunter and some solid grass sweetlip on all of our common reefs and wrecks but also just cruising along the headland especially around big schools of bait.
Whole prawns and strip baits are good options for these fish, if you prefer lure fishing a 20g Samaki Vibelicious is the go to lure for both of these species when targeting them in 5 to 15m of water.
We have also heard of more reports coming from anglers catching some solid 8 to 12kg Spanish mackerel in close.
Targeting these mackerel around the leads can be very effective when they are hanging around the bait as they are usually feeding.
Trolling whole garfish rigged on a TT lures bait trolling rig is one of the best ways to encounter a big Spanish in close!
You can also float out a live yakka, slimey or even a dead pilchard whilst fishing the reefs and wrecks.
OffshoreWhen the weather has allowed we have seen some really good results from those fishing the Northern Gutter, 5 Degree, Warregos and the Herolds Patch.
Plenty of big coral trout have been on the menu lately, fishing the pressure edged side of the reefs with whole pilchards, whole squid or flesh baits rigged on gang hooks has been the kicker!
Rigging these big baits on gang hooks allows the bait to be presented very naturally in the water column and it usually temps those trophy fish to bite.
Plenty of tasty esky fillers have also been on the chew when fishing these reefs such as venus tusk fish, hussar, moses perch, sweetlip and even some cracking large mouth nannygai.
Remember to make the most of the tide change, fishing a good patch of fish 1 hour either side of the tide change can change your day for the better!
Having a transducer that is able to get a good reading at speed is a game changer when fishing out wide.
What this enables you to do is cruise around at a comfortable speed whilst still sounding the bottom, this will help you find isolated rocks and structure that is rarely fished.
Burnett RiverThe fishing in the Burnett over the last week has been tough, however it's certainly not for a lack of fish around.
The sounder doesn't lie and there sure has been plenty of blue salmon schooled up, and a heap of barra starting to show themselves in the town reach area.
These blue salmon have been moving extremely quick which can explain why intercepting these fish with a lure or bait has been quite tricky.
Anglers with live scope have been able to follow these fish around and pitch in an accurate cast which has had some awesome results.
Andy Gatt with a cracking trout. Watching these fish react to certain lures is very interesting, and at the moment it seems a quieter lure is getting the bites compared to a lure with a rattle.
Samaki Vibelicious 20g soft vibes as well as the TT Quake vibes are two really good options for these fish at the moment.
As for the barra, we should see these fish start to be caught more regularly as the water temp starts to rise. For all the die hard anglers targeting these fish now will help you work out a pattern and possibly get stuck into them before the crowds appear.
Kolan River
The Kolan is producing some great fishing at the moment, in particular the mouth of the river has seen big flathead and grunter caught up on the shallow flats during the start of the run in tide.
Pumping for yabbies at the bottom of the tide and fishing over the shallow flats has worked very well.
Good numbers of whiting around the 25 to 28cm mark have also been caught in these areas as well. Floating out whole sprat along the flats has been very effective if you can't get your hands on some fresh yabbies.
We have also heard good reports coming from those fishing up river during the last half of the run out tide.
Fishing the deeper holes and along the steep banks during this time of the tide has also seen grunter, blue salmon, cod and some monster flathead caught. A live bait in these areas has been the most effective bait, otherwise a prawn imitation soft plastic or a soft vibe should get the bites.
Also, be sure to put the pots in as this system has had some good numbers of crab being caught again.
Elliott RiverThe Elliott is still producing some quality fish!
Most of the species caught have been found in the shallow water during the incoming tide or pushed up along the mangrove fringes and as the tide recedes the fish have moved into the deep holes or hanging tight to structure that is still in the water.
The flathead and grunter that have been caught in the shallows have loved a natural coloured soft plastic slow rolled or slowly hopped with paused in between.
A Daiwa 3.2inch Baitjunkie Minnow is a great option for this style of fishing.
Throwing some whole sprat or small strips of mullet fillets onto the sand flats or along the drop offs has also picked up these quality fish.
Around the mouth of the Elliott has seen the odd school of dart and some good sized tailor caught.
Again, small soft plastics has worked very well on these fish. The deeper holes up the river have seen good numbers of fish schooled up with grunter, trevally, cod and some blue salmon being caught.
Small soft vibes hopped through the holes has got the bites. Plenty of good sized crabs are also on the move in this system, placing the pots in for an overnight soak has got the best results but even a few hours whilst you are fishing has been working great for a lot of anglers chasing a feed.
Baffle CreekWell the Baffle sure is producing some solid fish if you know where to look depending on the tide.
Those doing best in this system have been fishing the run out tide as it is usually easier to locate good numbers of fish in close proximity. Fishing the deep holes in this system or the deep rock bars up creeks has found cod, grunter, flathead and even the occasional mangrove jack caught in the last half of the run out tide.
Whole prawns and sprat as well as a live bait has worked very well in these area.
Of course if you are into lure fishing these areas certainly warrant a slow sinking prawn presentation.
If you are fishing the incoming tide the shallow sand flats and sand bars are well worth a look.
Some big flathead and good numbers of whiting around the 25 to 30cm mark are being caught in these areas.
Like always, pumping yabbies at the bottom of the tide and fishing this exact area as the tide pushes in is a really good way to get into the fish that push up with the tide.
Lake GregoryThe fish in Lake Gregory have certainly been very healthy, proving how well fed these fish have been throughout winter.
The fishing is tougher than it has been however there has sure been plenty of quality fish well over the 40cm mark being caught.
Trent Wockner and his wife with a pair of solid cobia. There is still good numbers of fish schooled up in the deep, changing lures quickly has helped to get bites when fishing these schools.
Slow rolling soft plastics, hopping soft or hard vibes, and slow winding spoons are all great options to try in the deep.
We are closing in on a transitional period on the lake, which is where a lot of the bass move to the edges.
As the water temp starts to rise we will see this become more evident, however at the present there has started to be an increase in numbers being caught on the edges.
Using suspending hardbody lures that swim just above the weed is deadly at the moment, slow rolling soft plastics is also a good option for fishing these edges.
Lake MonduranIf you are a keen Lake Monduran angler you should know Sam from Mondy Man Fishing Charters and new addition to Lake Monduran Jake from Impoundment Barra Sports Fishing.
These two have cracked the code over the last few months and have managed ridiculous numbers of fish over the magic metre mark.
It just goes to show that these fish will still bite even with the water temperature dropping below 17 degrees during the night.
The lads are using the latest in Garmin Live Scope technology to target individual fish and pitch accurate casts to not spook these fish.
Without live scope getting these fish to bite is certainly tougher, however water temps should increase from now so we look forward to even better fishing.
Targeting fish in the shallows especially on wind blown points should help to find more active fish that are seeking the warm water.
Samaki Redic DS80's are a killer lure this time of year when being in the strike zone for as long as possible is the key.
From the team at Tackle World Bundaberg
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