Catch of the day? Wild salmon is threatened, and the farm-bred alternative raises concerns

A meal of salmon is a time-honored Fourth of July tradition in New England, along with peas and new potatoes, which came into season around the same time the fish ran. Times, however, have changed. Atlantic wild salmon is commercially extinct. In May, salmon fishing was banned in California and most of Oregon to halt the rapid disappearance of the species there. Over the past few weeks, the price of Alaskan wild salmon fillets has ranged from a whopping $20 to $35 a pound at local fish markets. And health and ecological concerns regarding the consumption of farmed salmon have been much in the news. For consumers, this adds up to one question: Should we still be eating this favorite fish?

Salmon is the third-most-popular seafood in America, behind shrimp and tuna, according to Laura McNaughton, director of the trade association Salmon of the Americas. We've embraced it because it tastes good, and because it's supposed to be good for us, a source of protein that's low in saturated fat and high in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

But in 2004, Science magazine published a study comparing the amount of contaminants such as PCBs and dioxins in farmed vs. wild salmon. Concentrations were "significantly higher" in farmed than wild, researchers found, with European-raised salmon having higher loads than those from North and South America. "Risk analysis indicates that consumption of farmed Atlantic salmon may pose health risks that detract from the beneficial effects of fish consumption," wrote the researchers, who analyzed about 700 farmed and wild salmon collected from around the world.

Read the full article in the Boston Globe.