Seafood Watch

• You’re in the supermarket freezer aisle trying to make sense of the different labels on seafood products.
• You know the oceans are in trouble and you’re trying to do the right thing, but the information is confusing and seemingly contradictory.

Making sense of salmon sustainability

• Both wild-caught and farmed salmon can be sustainable, but determining the environmental impact of a fillet isn’t simple.
• Many certification schemes, eco-labels, rankings and guides exist to signpost salmon sustainability.
• Other seafood sustainability schemes offer some assurances of sustainability, but are often not nearly as rigorous.
• According to fish conservation charity WildFish, some badges of sustainability in salmon aquaculture can mask details of unregulated salmon supply chains – with certifications rarely being lost even when conditions are breached.
• In terms of wild-caught salmon, it is our strong opinion that it is never legitimate, under any circumstances, to call it organic.

Which salmon should you buy?

When buying salmon or ordering it at a restaurant, look for key information on the labels or ask staff about the sourcing of their fish.
How, and from where, was it caught or farmed? Either can be sustainable, but the devil is in the detail.
If farmed, what was it fed – and from where did this feed originate? The feed should be from a sustainable source of fish, and perhaps even certified itself.
If wild-caught, is there minimal by-catch associated with it?
Which species of salmon is it? Whether Atlantic, chinook, sockeye, pink, coho or chum, sustainability depends on a variety of factors so there is no hard-and-fast rule. But there are better and worse options: this guide from Seafood Watch is very useful.
Which eco-labels does it have? Certifications from the Marine Stewardship Council and Aquaculture Stewardship Council are best.

The scale of salmon

• Sushi salmon in Japan, for example, may have travelled 17,000 km from Norwegian or Chilean farms.
• The need to mitigate the carbon footprint of salmon production will only increase as the world ramps up decarbonisation efforts.
• Salmon farming or aquaculture currently bridges this gap between supply and demand, accounting for 70% of the salmon available for consumption.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.