NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC • September 24, 2021
Salmon is the most popular fish in the U.S.—Americans collectively consume nearly 450,000 tons each year—and the choices are countless: farmed Atlantic, wild-caught sockeye, king, pink, smoked. Some are green-certified, others are labeled “all-natural.” How to choose? And can you trust that your purchases will deliver on the promise of protecting wild species and safeguarding your health? That question is at the heart of a number of scientific investigations, conservation campaigns, documentary films, and multiple recent class-action lawsuits against the Norwegian seafood company, Mowi USA LLC. Mowi, which supplies a fifth of the global demand for farmed salmon, is accused of misleading consumers by marketing its Ducktrap River smoked Atlantic salmon as “all natural,” “sustainably sourced,” and “from Maine.” Court documents state that the company acquires its salmon from industrial farms outside the U.S. where fish in crowded marine pens are often treated with medicines and chemicals, including formaldehyde-based formalin and bleach, to prevent disease and sea lice infestations.