What About Other Kinds of Fish?

For all children, variety is key. As most fish and many other commonly eaten foods contain at least trace amounts of toxic contaminants, encouraging kids to try a wide variety of foods minimizes the chance of overexposure — and adds more nutrition to their diets.

Older children: Health advisories are based on a body weight of 67 pounds (30.5 kg) and a meal size of 4.5 ounces of fish before cooking.

Younger children: Health advisories are based on a body weight of 32 pounds (14.5 kg) and a meal size of 3 ounces of fish before cooking.

    ?     : Indicates that there is not sufficient information to make a recommendation. Read our Methodology to see what information we use to make recommendations.

A-C | E-M | O-Se | Sh-Sw | T-W

Species		Health Concern	Maximum Meals per Month			Ocean Friendly?
			Older Children	Younger Children
Abalone (farmed)			?	?		Yes
Anchovies			no limit*	no limit*		Yes
Arctic Char			?	?		Yes
Bluefish		PCBs, mercury and pesticides	0	0		Somewhat
Catfish, Channel			?	?		Yes
Caviar (farmed)			?	?		Yes
Caviar (wild)			?	?		No
Clam, Butter			?	?		Yes
Clam, Manila			?	?		Yes
Clam, Northern Quahog			no limit*	no limit*		Yes
Clam, Pacific Geoduck			?	?		Yes
Clam, Pacific Littleneck			?	?		Yes
Cod, Atlantic			?	?		No
Cod, Pacific			?	?		Somewhat
Crab, Blue		PCBs and mercury	1	1/2		Somewhat
Crab, Dungeness			no limit*	no limit*		Yes
Crab, Florida Stone			?	?		Yes
Crab, Snow			no limit*	no limit*		Somewhat
Crayfish or Crawfish, Red Swamp			no limit*	no limit*		Yes
Croaker, Atlantic		PCBs	0	0		Somewhat
Croaker, White		PCBs	1/2	0		?
Species		Health Concern	Maximum Meals per Month			Ocean Friendly?
			Older Children	Younger Children
Eel, American		PCBs, mercury and pesticides	0	0		No
Flounder, Blackback or Winter		PCBs	1	1/2		No
Flounder, Summer or Fluke		PCBs	1	1/2		Somewhat
Grouper		Mercury	1	1		No
Haddock			no limit*	no limit*		Somewhat
Halibut, Atlantic		Mercury	3	2		No
Halibut, Pacific		Mercury	3	2		Yes
Herring, Atlantic			no limit*	no limit*		Yes
Herring, Pacific			?	?		Somewhat
Lingcod		Mercury	3	2		Somewhat
Lobster, American or Maine		Mercury	3	2		Somewhat
Mackerel, Atlantic			no limit*	no limit*		Yes
Mackerel, King		Mercury	0	0		Yes
Mackerel, Spanish		Mercury	1	1		Yes
Mahimahi		Mercury	no limit*	3		Somewhat
Marlin, Blue		Mercury	0	0		No
Marlin, Striped		Mercury	2	1		No
Marlin, White		Mercury	1	1/2		No
Monkfish		Mercury	3	2		No
Mussel, Blue (farmed)			no limit*	no limit*		Yes
Mussel , New Zealand Green			?	?		Yes
Species		Health Concern	Maximum Meals per Month			Ocean Friendly?
			Older Children	Younger Children
Opah/Moonfish		Mercury	1	1/2		Somewhat
Orange Roughy		Mercury	1	1/2		No
Oyster, Eastern or American (farmed)			?	?		Yes
Oyster, Eastern or American (wild)		PCBs	2	1		Somewhat
Oyster, Pacific			no limit*	no limit*		Yes
Paddlefish (farmed)			no limit*	no limit*		Yes
Paddlefish (wild)			no limit*	no limit*		No
Pollock, Pacific or Walleye		PCBs	4	3		Yes
Pompano, Florida		Mercury	no limit*	3		No
Rainbow Trout			no limit*	no limit*		Somewhat
Rockfish (Pacific)		Mercury	2	1		No
Sablefish			no limit*	3		Yes
Salmon, Atlantic (farmed)		PCBs, dioxins and pesticides	1/2	0		No
Salmon, Chinook (wild)		PCBs	no limit*	3		Yes
Salmon, Chum (wild)			no limit*	no limit*		Yes
Salmon, Coho (wild)			no limit*	no limit*		Yes
Salmon, Pink (wild)		no limit*	no limit*	Yes
Salmon, Sockeye (wild)	PCBs	no limit*	2	Yes
Sardines		no limit*	?	Yes
Scallop, Atlantic Calico		no limit*	no limit*	No
Scallop, Bay (farmed)		no limit*	no limit*	Yes
Sea Bass, Chilean	Mercury	1	1	No
Seabass, Black	Mercury	no limit*	4	Somewhat
Seatrout, Spotted	PCBs and mercury	0	0	?
Species	Health Concern	Maximum Meals per Month		Ocean Friendly?
		Older Children	Younger Children
Shad, American		no limit*	no limit*	?
Shark	Mercury	0	0	No
Shrimp (imported)		?	?	No
Shrimp (US farmed)		no limit*	no limit*	Yes
Shrimp (US wild)		no limit*	no limit*	Somewhat
Shrimp, Northern		no limit*	no limit*	Yes
Shrimp, Pink (Ocean or Oregon)		no limit*	no limit*	Yes
Shrimp, Spot Prawn (Canada)		?	?	Yes
Shrimp, Spot Prawn (US)		?	?	Somewhat
Skate	Mercury	no limit*	3	No
Snapper, Mutton	Mercury	2	1	Somewhat
Snapper, Red	Mercury	2	1	No
Snapper, Silk		?	?	No
Snapper, Vermillion		?	?	No
Snapper, Yellowtail	Mercury	no limit*	3	Somewhat
Sole, English	PCBs	3	2	Somewhat
Squid		no limit*	no limit*	Somewhat
Striped Bass (farmed)		?	?	Yes
Striped Bass (wild)	PCBs, mercury and pesticides	0	0	Yes
Sturgeon (farmed)		?	?	Yes
Sturgeon, Atlantic (wild)	Mercury	1	1	No
Swordfish (US)	Mercury	0	0	Somewhat
Species	Health Concern	Maximum Meals per Month		Ocean Friendly?
		Older Children	Younger Children
Tilapia (farmed)		no limit*	no limit*	Yes
Tilefish	Mercury	2	1	No
Tuna, Albacore (Canned white)	Mercury	2	1	Somewhat
Tuna, Bigeye	Mercury	2	1	No
Tuna, Bluefin	Mercury	1/2	1/2	No
Tuna, Skipjack (Canned light)	Mercury	no limit*	3	Somewhat
Tuna, Yellowfin	Mercury	2	1	Somewhat
Wahoo	Mercury	1	1	Somewhat
Weakfish	PCBs	0	0	Yes

  * No Limit   : Although there is currently no health concern for this fish, there is not sufficient data to designate it a KidSafe Seafood at this time.  As a general rule of thumb, the EPA and FDA recommend that young children eat up to two average meals a week of a variety of low-mercury fish and shellfish. 

The information presented in this chart comes from the following sources:

• Environmental Defense
• Monterey Bay Aquarium
• Blue Ocean Institute
• Food & Drug Administration
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Various academic studies

Please read about our Methodology or Contact Us for more information.