Farmed salmon

Published on Sunday 14 March 2004 00:00

Scottish farmed salmon has not had a good time of it recently. A damning report in January by American scientists said our fish is so full of pollutant chemicals it should only be eaten sparingly. Consumers, who have long been advised that salmon is a healthy alternative to red meat, have been left confused. But is our salmon really as bad as the scientists suggest?

The salmon farming industry in this country used to be made up of a lot of small, independent companies. The picture is very different today, with two or three big players dominating the industry. This has certainly had an impact on the quality of the fish produced.

It would be nave to think that these multinational food producers aren’t driven primarily by the urge to maximise profits. In an ideal world, they would run their farms less intensively, grow their salmon a little slower and starve them a little longer before harvest. This would produce fish with less fat and much firmer flesh.

We gather that, with support from Waitrose, one farmer, Aquascot, went down this road, but, like many small fisheries, it has since been swallowed up. But although its small, self-sustaining farm policy has gone, at least its organic production survived.

The organic fish farming industry in the UK is very small. It produces salmon that look a bit like farmed fish on the outside but are sleeker. On the inside they have no vivid colour or soft fatty flesh and, filleted up, would be hard to distinguish from a fresh wild fish. The taste is fantastic.

But what of bog-standard farmed salmon? Sadly, they are a price-driven commodity. Like most of us, they would be transformed if they were starved of half their body fat - but for a product fetching 2.25 per kg in the Glasgow market this week, such a policy would be commercial suicide.

It is up to us to demonstrate demand for good fish by not always opting to buy the cheapest available. Even conventionally farmed fish is not all the same. In emergencies at our restaurant, we buy fish from a local source which, though super-fresh, is always fattier than our usual supply.

Seek out the sleek, avoid the flab and shop around to buy firmer fish. Or, if your budget allows, buy organic (try Orkney Organic Salmon, 01349 899002).

Bill and Sukie Barber 'Rural Chef of the Year 2003'

Old Pines Restaurant with Rooms, Spean Bridge, By Fort William. Tel [phone] www.oldpines.co.uk