As the public becomes more health conscious, there is an increased awareness of the numerous health benefits associated with the inclusion of salmon as a regular meal in their diet. Wild salmon has been shown to be one of the best sources of omega - 3 fatty acids, a beneficial fat found in the natural oils in fish. Research shows that these fats help maintain healthy brain functions, reduce the chances of getting cancer and help reduce the build up of plaque in the arteries that leads to heart attacks and strokes. Adversely, farmed salmon contain lower levels of the omega - 3 fats and have higher levels of unhealthy saturated fats. This dissimilarity is mainly caused by the structure of the feed used on the farms, which contain bi-products and filler.

Another substantial difference between wild fish and farmed fish is the actual colour of the flesh. Wild salmon spend two to five years feeding on plankton and krill which naturally changes their flesh to the red colour we are use to. Due to the nature of the environment in which the farmed fish are raised the flesh is naturally grey in colour. To combat this problem, chemical dye supplements are added to the feed to change the colour of the flesh to resemble the normal and healthy pink/red colour of wild salmon

Reared in floating netcages, farmed fish are often densly confined. These cramped arrangements make it easy for diseases and parasites, such as sea lice, to spread very rapidly through an entire population. For this reason, antibiotics are added to their feed, a procedure thought to contribute to the dangerous increase of antibiotic-resistant diseases. Furthermore, as much as 30 percent of the uneaten feed goes untreated and enters the ocean where it can kill natural marine algae and bacteria and pollute the marine environment. A Canadian study (Gerhard Pohle, Huntsman Marine Science Center) has shown that the biodiversity of small creatures that live in the seabed decline, and diminish completely, in areas of intensive fish farming.

Even with the current measures being taken, farmed fish can still contract infections and parasites. Often fish manage to escape from the floating netcages where they are raised and threaten wild stocks. Many farms contain species of fish, which are not native to the surrounding waters, and therefore escapees may interrupt the breeding pattern of wild stocks and negatively affect the amount of native fish to successfully spawn in that area.