Facts and Questions

How long has Wild Planet been in business?
Are the products offered by Wild Planet sustainably caught?
How is Wild Planet fish caught?
From where does the Albacore Tuna come? Is it wild or farmed raised?
Why does Wild Planet Albacore Tuna taste so much better?
Is Wild Planet Albacore packed in water or oil?
Why is Wild Planet Tuna higher in calories than the large national brands of tuna?
Why is the Omega 3 content higher in Wild Planet Tuna?
Are there other nutritional advantages to eating fish rather than taking Omega 3 capsules?
What can high Omega 3 foods do for you?
Why is there so much less mercury?
How is Wild Planet's offering of smaller, juvenile tuna with less mercury consistent with a sustainability mission when these young fish have not had a chance to breed?
Why is Wild Planet Tuna more expensive than the large national tuna companies such as Bumble Bee or Starkist?
Is there mercury or other chemicals in Wild Planet Salmon?
Are there phosphates in Wild Planet Shrimp?
What are the small crystals which resemble glass that are occasionally found in canned salmon?
Are Wild Planet products packed in BPA free cans?
Why are Wild Planet tuna and sardines caught in the US but packed in Vietnam?
What is the carbon - load of producing these products overseas?
Are Wild Planet products gluten free?

How long has Wild Planet been in business?

Wild Planet has its roots in a major West Coast seafood company, Carvalho Fisheries. Carvalho Fisheries' principals, William Carvalho and Bill McCarthy, have a combined 35 years of experience in the seafood industry. They possess intimate knowledge of industry practices and in 2003 chose to discontinue involvement in fisheries that either employ harvest techniques that result in the wasteful discard of usable species or contribute to marine habitat damage. Wild Planet was created in 2005 to introduce a branded selection of sustainably caught seafood and Carvalho Fisheries was merged into Wild Planet in 2008.

We believe that conservation of wild habitat and harvest of wild seafood can successfully coexist. We strive to offer a product line consisting only of the most eco-preferable, wild seafood on the planet. Thus arose the name Wild Planet.

Are the products offered by Wild Planet sustainably caught?

YES, troll caught fish is listed as the "BEST CHOICE" in tuna by Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch for sustainability.

Our Shrimp and Salmon are MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certified for sustainability.

Our largest shareholder is Sea Change Investment Fund, which requires that our product offerings be approved by their conservation committee.

How is Wild Planet fish caught?

Our fish are caught one-by-one using hand lines and "pole and troll" methods. This insures that, unlike the long-line caught fish many companies use, other species of marine life such as dolphins and turtles aren't harmed. For more detail, please see view our page on Sustainability and Fishing methods.

From where does the Albacore tuna come? Is it wild or farmed raised?

This wild caught albacore comes from the pristine waters off the Pacific Northwest in the United States. Please go to the Sourcing page of this web site for further information.

Why does Wild Planet Albacore Tuna taste so much better?

We have very high standards for our bled sashimi-grade fish that we buy directly from US boats.
We process completely differently from industrial canners.
- We hand-pack tuna loin chops raw directly into the can and they are cooked only once to capture all the rich flavor and natural oils of the tuna. No water or vegetable oil is added. The result is a delicious TUNA STEAK IN A CAN!

Is Wild Planet Albacore packed in water or oil?

Neither. We hand-cut and pack delicious sashimi grade tuna steaks. All the Omega 3 oils are retained and no liquid is added. This is 100% pure albacore tuna and sea salt in its own natural juices; please don't drain.

Why is Wild Planet Tuna higher in calories than the large national brands of tuna?

Since all the natural Omega 3 is present in the can, these nutritious oils contain calories, whereas the water in the national brands' tuna is devoid of both nutrition and calories.

Why is the Omega 3 content higher in Wild Planet Tuna?

Since we only cook our albacore once, all the natural Omega 3 is present in the can. The large national brands of tuna loose most of the Omega 3 in their pre-cooking process before the fish is put in the can with water or vegetable oil. They sell the extracted Omega 3 oil to supplement manufacturers to use in the production of Omega 3 capsules.

Let us provide you with your Omega 3s naturally, with high protein, high Omega 3 Albacore.

Are there other nutritional advantages to eating fish rather than taking Omega 3 capsules?

Research indicates that Omega 3s may be better absorbed from food than supplements. Norwegian researchers compared 71 volunteers' absorption of Omega 3s (EPA and DHA) from salmon, smoked salmon, cod (14 ounces of fish per week) or cod liver oil (3 teaspoons per day). Cooked salmon provided 1.2 grams of Omega 3s daily, while cod liver oil provided more than twice as much: 3 grams of Omega 3s per day.

While fish oil capsules may be a good source for boosting brain and health-giving Omega 3, salmon has an edge over fish oil as it provides a dose of selenium as well - an element many are lacking.

Selenium is an important antioxidant in the body and has been associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and cancer. Researchers at Massey's Institute of Food, Health and Human Nutrition in New Zealand investigated whether fish or fish oil tablets is better for people to increase their Omega 3 fatty acid status.

When Massey researchers compared a group of healthy volunteers who ate a 120 gram portion of salmon twice a week with another group who took salmon oil capsules containing the equivalent Omega 3, participants were found to have similar levels of Omega 3 in the blood. What they also found was that the people who consumed salmon were able to significantly increase their blood concentrations of selenium compared to the group who took capsules.

What can high Omega 3 foods do for you?

Reduce inflammation throughout your body
Keep your blood from clotting excessively
Maintain the fluidity of your cell membranes
Lower the amount of lipids (fats such as cholesterol and triglycerides) circulating in the bloodstream
Decrease platelet aggregation, preventing excessive blood clotting
Inhibit thickening of the arteries by decreasing endothelial cells' production of a platelet-derived growth factor (the lining of the arteries is composed of endothelial cells)
Increase the activity of another chemical derived from endothelial cells (endothelium-derived nitric oxide), which causes arteries to relax and dilate
Reduce the production of messenger chemicals called cytokines, which are involved in the inflammatory response associated with atherosclerosis
Reduce the risk of becoming obese and improve the body's ability to respond to insulin by stimulating the secretion of leptin, a hormone that helps regulate food intake, body weight and metabolism, and is expressed primarily by adipocytes (fat cells)
Help prevent cancer cell growth

What conditions or symptoms indicate a need for more high Omega 3 foods?

Depression
Cardiovascular Disease
Type 2 Diabetes
Fatigue
Dry, itchy skin
Brittle hair and nails
Inability to concentrate
Joint pain

Albacore Tuna, Salmon, flax seeds and walnuts are excellent food sources of Omega 3 fatty acids.

Despite the fact that the salmon group got less than half the amount of Omega 3s as the cod liver oil group, blood levels of Omega 3s increased quite a bit more in those eating salmon than those taking cod liver oil. After 8 weeks, EPA levels had risen 129% and DHA rose 45% in those eating cooked salmon compared to 106% and 25%, respectively, in those taking cod liver oil.

What are the functions of Omega 3 fatty acids?

Every cell in our body is surrounded by a cell membrane composed mainly of fatty acids. The cell membrane allows the proper amounts of necessary nutrients to enter the cell, and ensures that waste products are quickly removed from the cell.

EPA Directly Anti-Inflammatory

A recently identified lipid (fat) product our bodies make from EPA, called resolvins, helps explain how this Omega 3 fat provides anti-inflammatory effects on our joints and improves blood flow.

Resolvins, which have been shown to reduce inflammation in animal studies, are made from EPA by our cellular enzymes, and work by inhibiting the production and regulating the migration of inflammatory cells and chemicals to sites of inflammation. Unlike anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin, ibuprofen and the COX-2 inhibitors, the resolvins our bodies produce from EPA do not have negative side effects on our gastrointestinal or cardiovascular systems.

(source: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=84)

Why is there so much less mercury?

The troll-caught albacore in the North Pacific fishery are lower in mercury because these migratory fish are smaller (about 9 to 25 pounds) and younger (three to five years old) than the long-line caught older fish that reach up to 70 pounds after ten to fifteen years of growth. Naturally, the longer a fish lives and feeds, the more it bio-accumulates mercury.

While all fish caught along the West Coast are low in mercury compared to larger overseas fish, we have made it our quest to produce the safest possible product. We do this by packing only these smaller fish.

How is Wild Planet's offering of smaller, juvenile tuna with less mercury consistent with a sustainability mission when these young fish have not had a chance to breed?

There are two fishery segments targeting albacore tuna worldwide: 1) surface fisheries catching migratory juveniles and 2) deep water long-line fisheries capturing spawning stocks. It is counter intuitive to assume that the most sustainable method of catch is to shift effort to juveniles since they have never bred. However, if all fish should be allowed to breed before harvest then there would be no commercial salmon industry since all commercial salmon have also not bred. The salmon stocks are managed by assessment of percentage of capture versus escapement. If an adequate percentage escape capture to go on to reproduce, then the fishery is considered sustainable.

In the albacore world, the surface fisheries are artisanal methods of harvest that are fairly ineffective in capture compared to long-line fisheries. The West Coast troll and pole fishery captures less than 15% of the bio-mass resulting in 85% of the fish returning to the spawning stocks. This 85% escapement is sufficient to sustain the population of the species. Once a fish becomes a mature spawning adult it continues to increase in fecundity exponentially with age. A 10 year old female albacore produces many times more eggs than a 6 year old albacore. The same is true with rockfish or most other fish and is the key rationale for marine reserves designed to protect mega fauna (large spawning adults) in the reserves and allow catch of their offspring outside the reserves. There is scientific consensus that a harvest shift away from long-line caught mature albacore to migratory juveniles with proper escapement is the best model for sustainability; this explains why groups like Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch consider US troll/pole caught albacore as a "best choice" - http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_search.aspx?s=albacore.

Wild Planet has not changed the way fishermen fish or influenced the size of fish being taken in the fishery; we only segregate the smaller fish from the total catch brought in by the boats for our own Wild Planet brand and sell the remainder to other companies.

Why is Wild Planet Tuna more expensive than the large national tuna companies such as Bumble Bee or Starkist?

Wild Planet uses the highest quality raw materials
Our tuna is undiluted by additives or water
Our tuna is hand cut and packed to provide a whole tuna steak in every can, not a can of tuna flakes and never mushy.

All these make a tuna product that is VASTLY SUPERIOR to commodity branded tuna.

Is there mercury or other chemicals in Wild Planet Salmon?

Our salmon are wild-caught from pristine U.S. waters, and because of their short lifespan do not have an opportunity to absorb an appreciable amount of mercury.

Are there phosphates in Wild Planet Shrimp?

No. In line with our high standards for seafood, our shrimp is presented to you in its natural, healthy state and our shrimp are from an MSC certified fishery.

What are the small crystals which resemble glass that are occasionally found in canned salmon?

Rare in occurrence, these harmless crystals are formed by magnesium, ammonia and phosphate which are naturally found in salmon. During the canning and cooking process, it is possible for these elements come together as the crystalline form of magnesium ammonium phosphate which can resemble glass particles upon first glance.

Unlike glass, these crystals are regular shaped prisms with straight edges and can be crushed to a powder easily or dissolved by boiling in vinegar or lemon juice for a few minutes. Struvite is safe to consume -- natural stomach acids will readily dissolve the crystals and the beneficial minerals will be naturally absorbed by the body.

For additional information regarding struvite, please visit this link: http://www.fpa-food.org/content/consumers/crystals.asp

Are Wild Planet products packed in BPA free cans?

Wild Planet Albacore Tuna, Skipjack Light Tuna and Sardines are packed in BPA-free cans. We are currently working with our suppliers to source BPA free cans for our salmon products. Due to the natural citric acid used in processing Wild Pink Shrimp, the cans must have a special lining which cannot be BPA free.

Why are Wild Planet tuna and sardines caught in the US but packed in Vietnam?

Unfortunately, there is no US sardine or tuna cannery capable of processing our volume requirements and the last sardine factory in the United States closed in 2010. In addition, the US cost of production would greatly increase the retail price beyond the reach of most families. Our goal is to make US-sourced sustainable seafood choices mainstream and thus have a greater impact on fishery harvest practices for the long-term good of ocean conservation.

We have elected to process our 5oz cans of albacore and skipjack tuna as well as our sardines in a highly respected partner facility in Vietnam. This facility offers state-of-the-art canning expertise in an immaculately clean, accredited environment that produces higher quality finished products than any cannery we have seen in the US.

What is the carbon - load of producing these products overseas?

We have studied this issue carefully, and are pleased to report that one of the lowest carbon-load forms of transportation on the planet is ocean freight. The carbon load of 26 tons of frozen tuna going from Seattle to Vietnam is miniscule and the finished cans returning are even less. Since there are no US canneries capable of processing these fisheries' fish, we are using the most efficient means to utilize them for domestic consumption. It is interesting that prior to our company expanding its sales of these fish, these very same pounds were being exported and not returned for domestic use.

The carbon load of these fish is much lower than the "local" Alaskan halibut and salmon flown to lower 48 states. It is also lower than seafood trucked from West to East Coast or East to West Coast. It is really not total miles traveled but the kind of miles that constitute carbon load. This is one of the reasons why studies have shown that ocean freighted New Zealand lamb has less carbon load when sold in London than Scottish lamb. Distance by ocean is a minor factor compared to energy inputs from feed production.

Please feel free to contact us any time for further clarification of these points.

Are Wild Planet products gluten free?

Wild Planet products do not contain and are not processed with any ingredients known to contain gluten. However, as our facilities are not certified as "gluten free" and because we do not batch test our products for the presence of gluten, we recommend you use this information in determining whether you should consume Wild Planet products based on your personal level of gluten sensitivity.