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[–] 98 points 1 month ago* (39 children)

"Fun" fact: Salmon from farmes are actually gray/pale-ish and coloured via their feed. You can order your salmon in a predefined tint.

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  • [–] 64 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (11 children)

    As stated, it is because they don't eat little crustaceans and krill in the Salmon farms. These critters have Astaxanthin in them (same stuff that makes flamingoes pink).

    Astaxanthin is just the pigment that is naturally produced by these animals. It can be synthetically produced using yeast or algae - the synthetic stuff is chemically identical to the naturally-occurring stuff.

    I feel like the implication when you see "farmed salmon is grey" is typically "and therefore it is bad/toxic/unhealthy/unnatural, etc". Really, the color just means they just have less naturally occurring astaxanthin in their diet. Astaxanthin is an antioxidant and is good for you - and plays a role in the growth and development of the salmon. However, when it is produced synthetically and added into the fishes' feed to give them color & aid their development, it has the same effect as if it were from krill.

    There are problems with salmon farming (environmental and animal welfare issues, though there can also be disease and contaminant issues dependent on farm location/conditions), but the actual meat is not nutritionally very different from wild salmon. It can actually have similar or even higher omega-3 content because farmed salmon are fatter (though their fat is higher in omega-6 and lower in omega-3 than wild-caught salmon).

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  • [–] 27 points 1 month ago

    Wow, both of you taught me some neat stuff! Astaxanthin sounds like it plays multiple roles in the lifecycle of salmon and is one of the most powerful antioxidants as well, so it benefits those of us that eat salmon. It's also the same reason/process that makes flamingos their beautiful color.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    A potential "no stupid questions"-question.

    Will I turn pink if I eat enough Astaxanthin? Is it toxic in the amounts that would be necessary?

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago* (5 children)

    Salmon is my number 1 food i want scientists to start growing in labs, cheaply and without animal harm.

    We are far off still but i am rooting.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago

    It's big carnivorous ocean-dwelling fish for me - like tuna, swordfish, etc - both because many of their fisheries are in very poor health/are destructive to the environment and because of the heavy metals issue.

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  • [–] -4 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    Cows would probably have a much bigger global impact. Do you have good reasons or just selfishly because you think they taste better?

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  • [–] 12 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

    I mean i gladly take lab grown beef, it would indeed be great for the climate. Any lab grown meat is positive.

    But yeah i do selfishly just want to eat more salmon more often because currently sashimi grade salmon is just too expensive for my budget.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago

    They did say "my number 1". I think it's okay to have hypothetical desires that don't fully align with what's best for the world, especially since wanting salmon to be grown in the lab doesn't mean they don't want lab beef.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    I don't know if it's placebo, but I think I notice a difference in flavor between wild-caught and farm-raised salmon. I guess it's like beef from cows that are raised with care versus beef from those that aren't?

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago*

    Oh there's definitely a taste difference - mainly because of diet. Farm-raised salmon eat feed made of various grain-starches, oils, and fish meal supplemented by vitamins and minerals while salmon in the wild eat a much different diet. But nutritionally there isn't a substantial difference.

    As an aside, the salmon fisheries in North America are some of the best-managed and most sustainable in the world. So if you can afford it, then wild caught salmon is a great choice.

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  • [–] 62 points 1 month ago (19 children)

    SYNTHETIC astaxanthin.

    Yes yes, very spooky sounding. Do you know how they make it? By farming the same damn algae that salmon eat.

    People get their panties in a bunch about farmed versus wild salmon. It's the same damn thing. Eat what you can afford.

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  • [–] 23 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    Would you believe those sick bastards raise the salmon IN dihydrogen monoxide?

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  • [–] 8 points 1 month ago*

    Eat what you can afford.

    Is the real take away but I can pretty much always taste the difference between farmed and caught fish because their diet and exercise isn't the same. And no, I'm not talking about the freshness quality, that's just universally ass in the USA because we import fish from across the globe.

    But the global demand for seafood is so damn high that I'd rather put up with farmed fish than nuking the entire ocean.

    My main issue is diet source and water filtration. (most) Fish evolved to basically not spend energy mitigating toxins and other heavy metals in their bodies because they're used to living in a constant stream of water, hence why they generate ammonia instead of urea, because the sheer volume of water will dillute it away.

    Both wild and farmed fish are highly susceptible to polluted food and water, which we really do not take enough care of these days lol.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    Nah it can also be fully synthetic, but it's the same thing, it's just preferred carotenoid for them

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago

    That's true, but I really I'm reluctant to say that because people are kind of dumb. It's like the ones that hear there's aluminum in your vaccines. Like yeah, but it's bound to other atoms and not at all aluminum anymore.

    Stupid people don't get nuance.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago* (11 children)

    Farmed fish is still fuckin awful for you (and the environment) compared to wild fish

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  • [–] 7 points 1 month ago (10 children)
  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago (9 children)

    diseases overcome with antibiotics pumped in

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (5 children)

    And this affects people..... How?

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (4 children)

    if you eat an animal riddled with antibiotics, your own body's effectiveness against said antibiotics (which are now ambient in your bloodstream) drops, requiring you to seek far stronger antibiotics the next time you have an actual bacterial infection, thus accelerating an arms race between us and super bacteria

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    High level, sure. But fish antibiotics are not human antibiotics. They're not even mammal antibiotics. They target different things.

    Was there a study done or something?

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (1 child)

    Yes, through drug-resistant bacteria developed on the animals that we come in contact with via undercooked meat or improper cleaning in the kitchen

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago

    Okay yeah, those are the ones I'm familiar with. That's all livestock studies. I haven't seen one about fish.

    We could possibly extrapolate from there, but the biome of the human body is so vastly different than sea creatures that it may not apply.

    Could you err on the side of caution? Sure. But if you're not wealthy and have to choose between farmed protein sources or no protein sources? Eat what you can afford. And don't fear monger people to the point where they make poor health choices due to their budget.

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  • [+] 1 point 1 month ago (4 children)
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    [–] 13 points 1 month ago

    Sockeye and Kokanee salmon’s exteriors both turn bright reddish pink when they are spawning. We can use that as an excuse if the fish ever turn sentient.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    Not like they wouldn’t eat you if given the chance

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    Don't hate me cause I'm buttery and delicious

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  • [–] 22 points 1 month ago

    Because human saw bear eating it. What is the salmon's excuse for knowing what it's innards look like? Oh, did it "see a bear eating it too", yeah right, . . . cannibal.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 month ago
    [–] 9 points 1 month ago

    Anyone remember how scientists discovered whales can communicate using words and may have peronal names?

    Well the spermwales called, and they have questions.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 month ago

    Kokanee salmon has that red color at some point - if i recall its when they are swimming up stream for breeding and will die at the end.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 month ago

    The reaction image makes me want to hug it.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago

    named for your inner beauty

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago

    You know what's really good? Salmon fish eggs. If you offered me coke or ikura. I would take the fish eggs. Wash those babies up with some sake and slap em on a cucumber. Probably my favorite food.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    It was important to remove all information about wh o actually wrote this joke, and to add an image of a fish for those who don't know what salmon means.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago

    Come over here and I will show you. Don't trip on the BBQ...

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    Well I guess it's pink... like their insides...

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    [–] 27 points 1 month ago (2 children)