Most wild salmon spend part of their time in the open ocean and part of the time, during spawning, in lakes and rivers. Some salmon -- mostly Atlantic salmon, but also some sockeye salmon -- have become "land-locked" and spend all their lives in lakes. Salmon in the United States are classified as either Atlantic or Pacific, depending on which ocean they come from, and as wild or farmed. Lake salmon are wild salmon; the only salmon not called "wild" are farmed Atlantic salmon grown in commercial fisheries. The nutritional value of different types of salmon varies slightly.
Types
The term "salmon" describes several similar but slightly different fish. Five types of salmon make up Pacific salmon in the United States, including king, also known as Chinook, Coho, chum, pink and sockeye. Only one type of Atlantic salmon lives in the waters around the U.S.; most Atlantic salmon today come from salmon farms, with less than 1 percent from the wild, Pamela Tom of the University of California Davis reports in the Mayo-June 2010 issue of "Global Aquatic Advocate." Pink salmon are most abundant wild Pacific salmon. Both wild and farmed salmon have lower mercury content than many other fish, less than 3.1 percent of the United States Food and Drug Administration safety levels, Tom reports.
Calories
Calories in a salmon serving vary by type, with the leanest fish having the fewest calories. Wild Coho supplies 139 calories per 100 g serving, compared to 231 calories in a serving of wild Chinook salmon. Atlantic farmed salmon supplies 206 calories per serving.
Fats
Both Atlantic and Pacific salmon contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which help lower cholesterol and may reduce the risk of heart disease. Fat content will vary in wild fish according to where they were caught; fish that migrate eat only when they're in the ocean, so their fat content is higher if they're ocean-caught. The amount of omega-3 fatty acid varies from species to species and differs slightly from farmed to wild fish, but falls between 0.8 and 2.1 g per 100 g of salmon, with chum containing the least and farmed Atlantic salmon the most, according to the FDA. However, Atlantic farmed fish also has one of the highest fat contents overall, with 12.3 g; only Chinook salmon contains more fat, at 13.3 g, including the highest amount of saturated fat, 3.2 g. Leaner salmon include wild Coho, chum, and pink salmon, which is used mostly for canned salmon.
Protein
All salmon have one of the highest protein contents per serving of any fish. Different types of salmon have similar protein content, ranging from 22.1 g per 100 g serving for farmed Atlantic salmon to 27.3 g for sockeye. Protein content, like fat content, varies according to where and when the fish was caught.
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