How does it compare?
One of the biggest questions from consumers unfamiliar with farm-raised seafood is: How does it compare to wild caught seafood? In many ways, it is no different, but in other ways it is safer and more regulated than wild caught seafood.
Taste and Smell
Based on numerous taste and smell tests, both experts and regular consumers cannot tell the difference between the two products, and on many occasions have chosen the farm raised option over the wild. That isn't to say that's always how it is, as with any product, there can be a bad apple in the basket. However, one should not discount a whole sector of food production because of one bad experience. Often times farmed seafood products are the more affordable option for the average consumer, sometimes even the only option at the seafood counter. That isn't a bad thing. For example, farmed salmon have controlled diets which leads to higher levels of omega-3's and fatty acids. Higher levels of omega-3's never hurt anybody and a higher fat content makes the fish easier to cook because it is resistant to overcooking and becoming dry.
Pollutants
A major concern with aquaculture products is pollutants. The pollutant levels in farm-raised seafood depend on their growing conditions. If they are raised in controlled RAS enclosures, there is little to no threat of pollutant contamination due to high levels of biosecurity. Other systems, such as open-ocean enclosures are subject to the same pollutant threats as wild caught seafood, such as chemical and plastic pollution.
Another "pollutant" some worry about is artificial coloring in farmed species such as salmon, but it is not actually a pollutant. The FDA approved color additive used in fish feeds for salmon to give it the pink color desired is astaxanthin, the same compound that is naturally occurring in a wild salmon's diet of krill, plankton, and other small organisms. Even though the nutrient is no different than the naturally occurring nutrient, the FDA requires it be labeled as a "color added" product. Rest assured farmed seafood producers do not add dyes directly into the flesh of the fish.
Processing and Packaging
The processing and packaging methods can vary between wild caught seafood and farm raised seafood. This is because there is less time spent between harvest and processing when dealing with farmed seafood than when processing and packaging wild caught seafood. During processing of farmed seafood, products can be quickly put on ice and transported to their intended processing/packaging facility immediately after harvest, while wild caught seafood may have to sit on ice for extended periods of time before being processed and properly packaged.
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Innovations in seafood packaging have also stemmed from the aquaculture industry in recent years. These include more sustainable packaging and breathable film that reduces bacteria levels.