Omega-3 and fish

Which fish has the most omega-3?

By GyroscopeUpdated November 14, 20268 sources

Of the fish most Americans buy, farmed Atlantic salmon and herring have the most, about 1.8 and 1.7 g of EPA and DHA in a 3 oz serving. Atlantic mackerel has about 1.0 g, sardines 0.8, trout 0.7 and canned light tuna 0.2. All six are on the FDA’s Best Choices list for low mercury.

It’s easy to think of all fish as omega-3 food. The amounts differ almost tenfold. A 3 oz serving of salmon has about as much EPA and DHA as nine or ten servings of canned light tuna, so a tuna sandwich every day for a week still gives you less than one salmon dinner.

What we’d do: put salmon, herring, mackerel or sardines on the plate twice a week. Canned sardines and herring keep in the pantry. Count tuna as fish and protein, and get your omega-3 from the others.

The ranking

The last column is what you’d get from the FDA’s 8 ounces a week if all of it were that fish. The omega-3 counter mixes them for your real week.

Salmon’s number depends on what the salmon ate

Farmed salmon get their omega-3 from their feed, and the feed has changed. Researchers in Scotland measured farmed Atlantic salmon from 2006 to 2015 and found EPA and DHA falling as fish meal and fish oil in the feed were replaced with plant ingredients. By 2015, they worked out, you’d need about twice the 2006 portion for the same EPA and DHA. The USDA’s 1.83 g is one measurement, and the salmon in your store may carry less.

That’s one reason to rotate between salmon and the other fish on the list.

Mercury

Every fish in the table is on the FDA’s Best Choices list. Watch the names, though. Atlantic mackerel is a Best Choice, while king mackerel is on the FDA’s list of fish to avoid, with marlin, orange roughy, shark, swordfish, tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico and bigeye tuna. If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, the FDA suggests 8 to 12 ounces a week from the Best Choices list.