Wild Salmon

Wild salmon is a truly delicious fish when you can get it, but buying from a sustainable source is the key. Much has been made of the PCB chemicals (polychlorinated biphenyls, to be exact) that are absorbed by these oily fish, plus, the fact that in England and Wales stocks are perilously low.

Though stock levels in Scotland appear to be static, it is with some caution that we list wild salmon here. The environmental choice would be to reduce your consumption, but the alternative, farmed salmon, has garnered much bad press (not to mention disease) in recent years, thanks to the use of cramped, enclosed cages and pesticides.

Top Tip: The Soil Association has teamed up with the Orkney Salmon Company and other farms on the island to establish ‘transitional organic’ certification. This means that although these farms may not be strictly organic, they stock low-densities of fish, use fewer pesticides, and avoid high-protein feeds.