Wild Planet wants consumers to accurately quantify their exposure to mercury. Our founders have pioneered the “minimal mercury” classification for seafood. That descriptor is our guarantee that our products have the lowest possible amount of mercury.

To be considered “minimal mercury” our laboratory test results (over 120 on albacore alone) must average less that 0.15ppm and no samples exceeding 0.3ppm of methyl mercury.

Test results (graph)and the laboratory technician’s testimonial-AMTEST are available here for your review. We have a full disclosure policy with our data. Independent laboratory test results are also available for comparison.

Where do we get our “minimal mercury” fish?
The troll-caught albacore in the North Pacific fishery is lower in mercury because these migratory fish are smaller (about 9 to 25 pounds) and younger (three to five years old) than the long-line caught older fish that reach up to 70 pounds after ten to fifteen years of growth. Naturally, the longer a fish lives and feeds, the more it bio-accumulates mercury.

While all fish caught along the West Coast are low in mercury compared to overseas fish, we have taken the quest to produce the safest possible product one step further. As our employees unload the fishermen’s catch at our docks, they separate the 9 to 12 pound fish from the rest of the load. We send these mostly three-year-old fish to our cannery in South Bend, Washington. These are the only fish contained in the “minimal mercury” product. We call it “minimal mercury” because it is lower than low in mercury. The rest of the fish from the boats (all fish over 13 pounds) is exported to our European cannery customers.

We have not changed the catch ratio of small-to-large fish that are being caught. We simply take to time and effort to separate them into two groups. The fishery is healthy as only a fraction of the fish stocks are caught; it is estimated that 85 percent of the fish keep on swimming by.

In addressing the issue of mercury ‘head on’ and in a very specific way, Wild Planet and Carvalho Fisheries are not trumping up food safety issues. We have simply reacted to the scientific community and regulatory agencies’ published findings that have alerted consumers to the need for caution and education. We have worked diligently to produce products that allow consumers to measure their mercury exposure and thus make informed personal decisions as to their nutritional choices. Our goal is to help our customers continue deriving the maximum health benefit from wild seafood with the confidence that they can do so safely.