Alaska Seafood is "smart for the heart." Traditional Asian, Mediterranean, and Greenland Eskimo diets are rich in seafood. These populations have a discernably lower incidence of cardiovascular disease. The average life expectancy in Japan - where seafood is a major part of the diet - is 79.

Naturally high in many essential vitamins, Alaska Seafood contains vitamins E, C, D and A. Some varieties are very high in antioxidant E, which has proven to strengthen the immune system, and lower the risk of heart disease by reducing buildup of plaque in coronary arteries. Current studies reveal possible protection against cancer and the formation of cataracts. Some species also have vitamin C (another antioxidant), vitamin D, and vitamin A is also found in many seafoods.

Alaska Seafood contains a wide variety of minerals (including zinc, iron, calcium, selenium). Canned salmon that includes the soft edible bones is a particularly rich source of calcium, and is a wonderful choice for people of all ages, including children who don't consume dairy products but need high amounts of calcium to build strong bones.

Alaska Salmon, for example, offers exceptional nutrition. Its high concentrations of Omega 3 oils, now proven to substantially reduce the risk of coronary disease. Omega 3 has also proven to be beneficial in the treatment and prevention of many other diseases. (See Omega 3: An Ounce of Prevention and a Pound of Cure.).

Sources:
* = Values from USDA National Nutrient Database (www.nal.usda.gov), Release 17, August 2004, Values for 100gm edible portion, cooked dry heat unless.
+ = Values from USDA National Nutrient Database (www.nal.usda.gov), Release 19, August 2006, Values for 100gm edible portion, cooked dry heat unless.

Alaska is fish country. For thousands of years, the fishes of Alaska’s seas and rivers have supported human use, from fisheries used by Alaska’s indigenous Native peoples since prehistoric times, to today’s modern seafood industry. Alaska is home to abundant stocks of many species of fish, and offers some of the cleanest marine, freshwater, and upland habitats in the world. Effective state and federal institutions manage fisheries that are productive and sustainable, clean and healthy. Alaska is the only State in the nation whose Constitution explicitly mandates that all fish, including salmon, shall be utilized, developed, and maintained on the sustained yield principle. Here are some examples of Alaska’s unique fisheries management and pristine environment.

Alaska is thousands of miles away from large sources of pollution that can contaminate the human food supply in other parts of the world. These distances, combined with the earth’s patterns of circulation of water and air, help to ensure that Alaska’s own waters are among the cleanest in the world.

Alaska’s human population density is among the lowest of any in the United States, and lower than most places in the world. Alaska has little heavy industry, and has strict regulations governing development activities, such as road building, mining, logging, and sewage treatment. The State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) has a regulatory section dealing specifically with water quality. Water discharges, such as sewage and other potential pollutants, are closely regulated to ensure high water quality. In addition, ADFG requires prior approval for any in-stream construction activities in Alaska’s salmon streams through the authority of the Alaska statutes known as the “Anadromous Fish Act” (Alaska Statute 16.05.870). Alaska also has a Forest Practices Act requiring buffer zones from logging along salmon streams to prevent erosion and protect spawning and rearing habitat. Clean marine habitats produce pure seafood products.

Alaska’s marine habitats are extremely clean, and Alaska’s seafood is pure and remarkably free of contamination by pesticides, petroleum derivatives, PCBs, metals, and bacteria.

Thanks to ASMI for the information provided.