Is farm raised tilapia really that bad for you?

It’s all farm-raised seafood…reall nasty. Read the conclusion of the article you cited. This is not new information. It’s a wise idea to know where all of your food comes from, if you have the energy.

that’s like EVERYTHING! I’ve been to an organic store, so pricey!

I just bought a bag of frozen tilapia too =\

Read This you need to be especially careful and read labels diligently. You need to know where your food is coming from and how it is produced. Sound like most of the tilapia that gets sold and consumed in the U.S. is from China and that is where the problem lies, the standards of sanitation in most farm raised tilapia is atrocious.

I am so disappointed in reading all of this, I love tilapia and now my ocd will never let me eat it again. :(

Ugh – I avoid most seafood now because I don’t trust what I am told as to its origin. I will occasionally eat shrimp and fish in restaurants, but very rarely. When you see videos on Youtube showing the farm raised fish swimming in sewage in these East Asian countries, it will change your opinion of fish being healthy.

And it’s not just tilapia. Farm-raised salmon isn’t much better either.

Funny. This afternoon I was sulking over the fact that I can’t just walk out back a pick fruit and vegetables for dinner when this nice lady from the fruit stand down the road walked up the dock with a bunch of chilled grapes and a big smile and invited herself to dinner. Can’t get that in a garden.

@jca, Shrimp are nasty also.

I find this frustrating. I usually end up shelling $ out for the wild stuff. It’s a roll of the dice on that too though. Eventually I guess fish will be a diet no-no. I still eat wild trout from the area tributaries though.

@gailcalled: Yes, I know. I eat it all very rarely.

I’d love to know which is healthier, fish in general from the Pacific (Post Fukishima) or farm raised fish.

@jca That’s all too bad :( I grew up eating Tilapia. It’s a staple in the Filipino culture. I can’t do it anymore with all the information that is put out there. It’s just common sense that is practically poisonous protein. at this point and time. I can’t even ask the local asian markets if their food is farm or wild because hell, who knows anymore?!

American and S/C. American tilapia is a safe source of protein, but it’s not a good source of omega-3s. Asian tilapia is cheap, but many of them are against eating it very often due to poor farming conditions. So it’s best to avoid Asian Tilapia.
Make sure you read the labels, if it doesn’t say made in USA, then don’t buy it or eat it and also try to buy fish from reputable sources and cook it well.

What is S/C?

@pleiades South/Central American farms.

@Smitha I wouldn’t be so sure of any farmed fish. I knew a guy (we used to work out at the same gym) who used to work on a fish farm, and he said that you wouldn’t believe what goes on at those fish farms.

@2davidc8 That may be true, after hearing all this I feel the best thing to do is not to eat fish because nowadays it’s really impossible to know which one is safe for consumption.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Maybe someday the industry will be better regulated or we will have more information regarding the where the fish were raised. I read that fish farming in the U.S. is a rapidly growing industry. It provides a way of protecting the dwindling supply of fish in the ocean.

Fish that are rich in Omega 3s and other fish oil benefits are those without livers, those fish commonly known as “oily fish.” The oils are stored in the meat of the fish, rather than the liver. Salmon, Mullet, Mackerel and their large cousins, the Kings, have no livers. There are many more. It’s pretty obvious when you catch one and clean it. Fish with livers store their oils in that organ and their meat is more pleasing to people because it is dryer and tastes less “fishy.” Oily fish are the ones that are often smoked as the meat doesn’t fall apart in the process like the dryer fish do.

If you are looking to eat fish liver direct from the fish, be sure that it comes from good waters. The liver’s primary function is to filter out toxins from the blood stream, contain them, then slowly disperse them as waste. Always make sure the liver is red as oxblood, has no spots, and no foul smell. This is how fisherman tell an edible fish from one overcome by toxins.

The best way to ensure quality and age of fish is to catch it and clean it yourself. It is a very nice way to spend a morning or afternoon. Contemplative, a chance to slow down, meditate a bit. People don’t do that enough. And then, literally out of the blue, along comes dinner. By catching your own fish, you have a chance to examine the liver, the color and smell of the meat, inspect for parasites, and decide at that point if it is healthy enough to eat. If you found a sick fish, you may have discovered some bad water and this must be reported for the safety of others and the rehabilitation of the site.

A summary of the horrors of eating any farm-raised fish.

Here are the main concerns about aquaculture:

1) Creating fish feed for farmed fish depletes other fish species and upsets the balance of the ecosystem. It takes two to five pounds of wild small fish to produce one pound of farmed salmon, for example.

2) Farmed fish may contain high levels of contaminants like PCBs, and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE). According to research published by the Environmental Working Group, PCBs found in farmed salmon (at levels 16 times higher than in wild salmon) in U.S. grocery stores are in levels high enough to pose an increased risk for cancer.

3) Fish farms can damage neighboring ecosystems, too, like marshes and forests at the water’s edge.

4) Antibiotics and other drugs used in fish farming sift to the sea floor and seep into open waters. As with antibiotic use in feedlots, there’s serious concern that overuse can create drug-resistant strains of disease that can wipe out wild
populations.

5) A dye called canthaxanthin is also used to color farm salmon, which would otherwise be grey. (Salmon in the wild absorb carotenoids from eating pink krill; this contributes to their naturally pink color.) This dye has been shown to adversely affect sight when consumed in large quantities.

6)Sea lice, which thrive in fish farms, threaten large numbers of wild fish that migrate past the area. (Fish farmers respond to sea lice by adding a pesticide to the fish feed.)

7) Waste from fish farms pollutes.

8) Fish farms threaten other fish and wildlife. Sea birds can become ensnared in netting and sea lions that try to eat farmed fish are sometimes shot. Farm fish that escape compete with wild fish for food and habitat, and they spread disease.

9) Farmed fish are generally less nutritious than wild fish…

Fish farming can be done in such a way that the fish are healthy and the environment does not suffer. Article There is a problem with overfishing in the oceans. Properly run fish farms look like a possible solution.

It’s the goal, certainly, but not easily obtainable at present. It will take a lot energy and creative thinking on the part of the farmers. I wish them well.I love fish and can clearly remember being fed farmed salmon last year. I couldn’t even swallow it.

I guess I’m lucky. I never ate any fish, except for canned tuna, and shrimp a couple of times when I was a kid (shrimp cocktail at a restaurant) and I sort of recall eating fish and chips (cod) about 3 times. Then when I became a vegetarian, it was a non issue.

I feel sorry for the folks who turn veggie, who were huge fish eaters before, because they seem to miss fish, more than beef or chicken. Me, I don’t miss any of it. Lucky for me, I’m also not disgusted by the sight or smell of it, either, since everyone around me still eats meat. I liken the aroma of BBQ’d meat as I do with the scent of rain soaked earth or pine trees, lovely, but not something to eat.