What fish can I eat if I’m pregnant?

Pregnant? Here’s what Springhills fish you can eat!

We get lets of questions from expectant mothers and worrying spouses about what Springhills fish is safe to enjoy.

On one hand, Health Canada recommends that women consume at least two servings of fish a week during pregnancy and breastfeeding. There is plenty of science that says the omega and other nutrients are necessary for baby’s development.

While on the other hand, there is concern that fish can have high levels of methyl-mercury. There are trace levels of mercury everywhere.. in the ecosystem, in your drinking water and nearly everything you eat. But it only becomes an issue when it accumulates up the food chain and mothers get a high dose that can impact baby’s brain development.

Here’s the good news.. you can enjoy all Springhills fish!

With farmed fish, we control everything that the fish eat. That means there is no chance for bio-accumulation of methyl-mercury in Springhills trout, salmon, char or barramundi, like there can be in wild fish.

All our fish feed comes from CFIA-inspected feed mills who regularly test ingredients for heavy metals, PCBs and other contaminants. After harvests, we also do random sampling of fillets to test for the same things as part of our Best Aquaculture Practices certification.

In our 28 years of operating, we have never had any issues. The trace levels are always at least 20 times lower than the government recommendations.

When it comes to our wild pickerel, the story gets a bit more complicated. Sometimes pickerel is said to have higher mercury levels, but we have never seen that in the fish we offer.

We partner with a processing plant closer to Lake Erie that shares all the results of their random sampling, and the pickerel has always been around the same trace levels as our farmed fish. The pickerel comes from a fishery certified by the Marine Stewardship Council that mandates environmental and batch testing that’s audited annually.

Could you just take omega supplements instead? We might be biased, but we don’t suggest that as the sources and testing of these fish oils are not regulated in the same way

. And even the science agrees, with Health Canada saying in their prenatal guidelines for health professionals: “There is insufficient evidence to draw any conclusion on the effects of fish oil supplements and DHA enriched foods on infant development”.

So if you’re SCALING up the family with a baby on the way, you BETTA believe you’re making a good choice with Springhills fish! 👪🐠