Perfect Fish Journal #1 - Important life lessons possibly to be learned here

[georgey]

So, I am looking for the perfect fish to eat for health reasons.  My perfect fish must meet the following requirements:

1) Tastes good
2) Rich in Omega 3 fats
3) Very low in sodium
4) Inexpensive
5) Very convenient to eat
6) Low in heavy metals so I can eat it every day

I am unable to find the perfect fish.  Here are problems that I am having:

Number 5 pretty much limits me to canned fish or fish in a ready to eat pouch. 

Canned Albacore Tuna –  PRO: I can get in very low sodium and it is inexpensive. Also, good (but not great) source of omega 3's.   CON: has heavy metals so I can only eat 5 ounces a week.

Canned Chunk lite tuna – PRO: Has less heavy metals than Albacore.  CON:  Has much less omega 3 fats.  Far from perfect.

Canned Pink Salmon – PRO – Low in heavy metals and rich in omega 3’s.  CON: In order to get a very low sodium can, I have to order on line for over $5.00 for a 4 ounce can!!  Also, taste is not that great.

Smoked Pink Salmon in pouch - PRO: Tastes great, rich in omega 3 and price is good - CON - VERY high in sodium!!  480 mg per 3 ounce pouch!!

[georgey]

There are some important life lessons to be learned here I believe.

1) Maybe there is no such thing as the “perfect fish”.  I could spend my whole life looking for this fish when one does not exist.

2) Are there practical workarounds to not having the perfect fish?

After researching a little more, I see I can rinse my canned fish for 4 minutes and remove about 80% of the sodium.  Having tried this on my taste good smoked salmon in a pouch, I noticed it does not taste as good but still tastes pretty good.

So, here is my practical workaround:

1) Eat low sodium canned Albacore tuna once a week.  Accept the not perfect contamination.  I should be okay with the amount of mercury found in the fish eating only one 4.5 oz a week.

2) Eat rinsed smoked Salmon in a pouch twice a week.  Accept the not perfect taste from rinsing.

3) Eat canned salmon (not smoked) twice a week.  Rinse very well.  Add extra virgin olive oil, black pepper and lemon juice from a bottle for taste.  Accept the not perfect taste and extra work required to prepare.

4) Eat non-rinsed smoked Salmon in a pouch twice a week.  Accept the not perfect high sodium for these 2 days and cut sodium elsewhere for these days.

Keep my eyes open for a more perfect fish in the future, but DO NOT SPEND MUCH IF ANY TIME ON THIS. 

This should about do it for my journal.  I look forward to the many anticipated comments.

[klavieronin]

Sardines and Mackerel are my staple canned fish. Not a huge fan of the taste of sardines but they are super healthy, low mercury, and are fast breeders so it's harder to over fish them. Mackerel is my favourite canned fish period but can be a little expensive. The important thing to remember about canned fish though is it's origin. Try to avoid anything from Southeast Asia. The industry there has a terrible record of human right abuses.

[georgey]

Sardines and Mackerel are my staple canned fish. Not a huge fan of the taste of sardines but they are super healthy, low mercury, and are fast breeders so it's harder to over fish them. Mackerel is my favourite canned fish period but can be a little expensive. The important thing to remember about canned fish though is it's origin. Try to avoid anything from Southeast Asia. The industry there has a terrible record of human right abuses.

Sardines look promising!:

I can get 12 4.5 oz no sodium added cans for $18.00 on Amazon - wild caught and sustainable - great omega 3's.!  No BPA cans, product of Morroco. Thanks!