Everyone knows how good fish and shellfish are because of their omega-3 fatty acids. Unfortunately, more and more people are bypassing fish because their worried about mercury. While it’s important not to eat alot of mercury-laden fish, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a statement only warning women who might become pregnant, women who are pregnant, nursing mothers, and young children to avoid king mackerel, shark, swordfish, or tilefish.
They also recommend these women and young children not eat more than 12 ounces of low mercury fish a week. Low mercury fish include: anchovies, butterfish, calamari, caviar, catfish, clams, crawfish, flounder, haddock, hake, herring, lobster, king crab, oysters, perch, salmon, sardines, scallops, shad, shrimp, sole, sturgeon, tilapia, and trout. To find out the mercury mean ratings for most fish and shellfish, read Mercury Levels of Fish and Shellfish.
Because fish and shellfish are packed with vitamins and loaded with minerals, you might want to include fish and shellfish in your diet. The benefits of eating seafood outweigh the risks, particularly in relation to the low level mercury fish. To find out what you can gain by eating these foods, let’s look beneath the sea and find out what vitamins and minerals sea life can provide.
Freshwater and Saltwater Fish and Shellfish
| Vitamin or Mineral |
Sources |
| Vitamin A | Crab, halibut, salmon, sturgeon, swordfish, tuna, whitefish |
| Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) |
Haddock, halibut, salmon, sardines |
| Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) |
Haddock, halibut, salmon, sardines |
| Vitamin B3 (Niacin) |
Haddock, halibut, salmon, sardines, tuna |
| Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid) |
Anchovies, haddock, halibut, salmon, sardines |
| Vitamin B6 | Flounder, halibut, mahi mahi, red snapper, salmon, sturgeon, tuna |
| Vitamin B9 (Folic Acid) |
Halibut, salmon, sardines |
| Vitamin B12 | Anchovies, catfish, cod, crab, flounder, herring, lobster, mackerel, oysters, salmon, scallops, shrimp, sole, sturgeon, swordfish, trout, tuna |
| Vitamin D | Eel, halibut, herring, mackerel, sardines, trout, tuna |
| Vitamin E | Herring, mackerel |
| Vitamin K | Herring, sardines |
| Calcium | Herring, oysters, salmon, sardines, shrimp, sturgeon, tilapia |
| Copper | Crab, haddock, halibut, lobster, oysters, sardines, shrimp, trout |
| Iodine | Almost any saltwater fish |
| Iron | Abalone, carp, oysters, perch, salmon, scallops, shrimp, tilapia, trout |
| Magnesium | Calamari, crab, haddock, hake, halibut, mackerel, oysters, salmon, sardines, scallops, shrimp, tuna |
| Manganese | Halibut, salmon, sardines |
| Niacin | Cod, haddock, hake, halibut, mahi mahi, salmon, shrimp, sturgeon, swordfish, trout, tuna |
| Phosphorus | Catfish, cod, haddock, haibut, perch, salmon, scallops, shrimp, snapper, sole, sturgeon, tilapa, trout |
| Potassium | Calamari, cod, flounder, hake, perch, salmon, scallops, snapper, sturgeon, tilapia, trout |
| Selenium | Cod, crab, flounder, hake, lobster, haddock, halibut, herring, oysters, perch, sardines, scallops, shrimp, sole, sturgeon |
| Sodium | Herring, lobster, mackerel, shrimp |
| Zinc | Crab, haddock, halibut, lobster, oysters |
Seafood lovers can estimate mercury levels in fish “on-the-go” with http://www.gotmercury.mobi, the new mercury calculator for cell phone browsers. It gives an estimate based on weight, fish species and amount — and is derived from U. S. government guidelines.