WITHOUT RESERVATIONS

Down on the farm?

We haven't quite reached the point at which you can cuss somebody out with the phrase "farmed salmon," but for responsible fish buyers it's a fairly hair-raising expression nonetheless. Farmed salmon, while predictable, convenient, and relatively inexpensive, implies a great many bad things, among them water pollution, the spreading of pathogens, and the overuse of antibiotics whose long-term effects in people are poorly understood. Salmon farming is also part of the unfortunate American habit of industrially producing everything, from furniture to writers. And, for connoisseurs, farmed salmon is just not as tasty as its wild cousins.

My dark confession for today is that, all other things being equal, I would prefer to buy farmed seafood — not always, but most of the time, for most routine uses. Farmed seafood costs less, and its availability isn't contingent on the vagaries of weather or on various bans and regulations. But the main reason I am tempted is because seafood farming should, in theory, relieve fishing pressures on wild populations, many of which are dangerously stretched if not destroyed.

It is possible to eat wild seafood with a reasonably clear conscience. Local favorites Dungeness crab and petrale sole are well managed, as is halibut (here and in Alaskan waters) — and of course many of us have been following the ongoing saga of king salmon, which could be completely untouchable this summer as part of an effort to restore runs on the Klamath River.

Still, "wild" is an incantatory word now, and when seafood buyers see it, they are not necessarily going to remember to check the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Web page before buying. While idling at the Mollie Stone's in Grand Central Market a few days ago, I found myself entranced by the wide selection of wild shrimp in the display cases. I love shrimp and appreciate its wide compatibilities and ease of cooking, but I am not comfortable buying it because it's mainly farmed (in Thailand and China), and shrimp farming is ruinous to land and sea. On the other hand, the wild shrimp, I was told, were taken in Mexican waters, and that too raised a flag, one of reckless overfishing.

As for the salmon? Organically farmed, in Canada, though for the moment, the fishmonger said, US regulations forbid any seafood from being labeled "organic." Wild, you say? Yes, but change is coming ...

Paul Reidinger

› paulr@sfbg.com