Trout: Rainbow, Farmed

Coastal rainbow trout, Kamloops trout, Redband trout, Columbia River redband trout, Eagle Lake trout, Kern River trout, Shasta trout, Sacramento redband trout, Kamchatkan trout, Rainbow trout (FDA approved), Steelhead trout (FDA approved)

N/A

Rainbow trout/Steelhead can be farmed in fresh– or seawater once they have reached their natural “sea-ready” size. Rainbow trout traditionally feed on a variety of aquatic and terrestrial organisms such as insects and small fish.

Most farmed Rainbow Trout in the Canadian market comes from the US, where closed containment aquaculture systems are widely used. Product sourced in Canada can come from both closed containment systems and open net sources primarily from the Great Lakes. It is important to note that product sourced from closed containment aquaculture (green) has fewer habitat impacts than product grown in open net cages (yellow).

The efficiency of trout to convert their food to body mass gives this category a green ranking. However, the fish used to produce fishmeal and fish oil fed to the trout are subject to over-fishing or large population fluctuations.

There is no evidence that any trout can escape flow through systems.

There has been some evidence of disease and parasite transfer, mainly because output water treatment does not remove bacteria and other pathogens suspended in the water.

Flow-through systems treat water using settling tanks, but dissolved nutrients and pathogens can still escape. There has been some evidence that habitats where the effluent is released are affected, but flow-through systems are small in scale and have only a moderate impact.

Flow-through systems are well regulated. As farms proliferate, clearer policies are needed to continue protecting the environment.

Where is this trout farmed?

Are they raised in land based systems, or open net cages?

Trout farmed in land based closed containment systems rank as a SeaChoice “Best Choice”

Contaminant levels do not warrant a consumption advisory.

No.