Mercury Levels of Fish and Shellfish

Fish and shellfish are usually considered to be one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids, and omega-3s seem to be good for your health and good for your heart. Unfortunately, more and more people are bypassing fish and shellfish because they are worried about mercury levels in them.

To help you select fish and shellfish low in mercury, here’s a chart from highest to lowest mean (average) levels of mercury, taken from information provided by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (Low levels of mercury are considered to be 0.100 parts per million [ppm] and less.) In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also provides a website with fish advisories to warn consumers if they should limit or avoid eating certain species of fish caught in places local to where they reside.

 

Species	Mercury Mean (ppm)	Species	Mercury Mean (ppm)
Tilefish	1.450	Tuna (Canned, light)	0.118
Shark	0.988	Jacksmelt	0.108
Swordfish	0.976	Cod	0.095
Mackerel King	0.730	Lobster (Spiny)	0.090
Tuna, Bigeye	0.639	Mackerel Chub (Pacific)	0.088
Orange Roughy	0.554	Croaker (Atlantic)	0.072
Marlin	0.485	Trout (Freshwater)	0.072
Grouper (all species)	0.465	Squid	0.070
Mackerel Spanish (Gulf of Mexico)	0.454	Whitefish	0.069
Tuna, Fresh	0.414	Shad American	0.065
Bass, Chilean (Sea, Striped Bass, and Rockfish)	0.386	Crab (Blue, King, Snow)	0.060
Tuna, Albacore	0.353	Butterfish	0.058
Bluefish	0.337	Mackerel Atlantic (North Atlantic)	0.050
Tuna, Yellowfin	0.325	Scallop	0.050
Lobster (Northern/America)	0.310	Catfish	0.048
Croaker White (Pacific)	0.287	Mullet	0.046
Scorpionfish	0.286	Flatfish (Flounder, Plaice, and Sole)	0.045
Weakfish (Sea Trout)	0.256	Herring	0.044
Halibut	0.252	Anchovies	0.043
Sabelfish	0.220	Pollock	0.041
Tuna, Skipjack	0.205	Crawfish	0.033
Snapper	0.189	Haddock (Atlantic)	0.031
Mackerel Spanish (South Atlantic)	0.182	Sardine	0.016
Monkfish	0.180	Hake	0.014
Tilefish (Atlantic)	0.144	Salmon (Fresh/Frozen)	0.014
Carp	0.140	Oyster	0.013
Perch (Freshwater)	0.140	Tilpaia	0.010
Skate	0.137	Shrimp	ND
Sheepshead	0.128	Clams	ND

ND = No Detection below 0.01 ppm