Humans who eat fish are exposed to mixtures of healthful nutrients and harmful contaminants that are influenced by environmental and ecological factors. Marine fisheries are composed of a multitude of species with varying life histories, and harvested in oceans, coastal waters and estuaries where environmental and ecological conditions determine fish exposure to both nutrients and contaminants. Many of these nutrients and contaminants are thought to influence similar health outcomes (i.e., neurological, cardiovascular, immunological systems). Therefore, our understanding of the risks and benefits of consuming seafood require balanced assessments of contaminants and nutrients found in fish and shellfish. In this paper, we review some of the reported benefits of fish consumption with a focus on the potential hazards of mercury exposure, and compare the environmental variability of fish oils, selenium and mercury in fish. A major scientific gap identified is that fish tissue concentrations are rarely measured for both contaminants and nutrients across a range of species and geographic regions. Interpreting the implications of seafood for human health will require a better understanding of these multiple exposures, particularly as environmental conditions in the oceans change.

This prospective study investigated the relationship between the consumption of fish and intake of long-chain n−3 fatty acids and the risk of coronary heart mortality in 2775 men and 2445 women aged from 30 to 79 years who were free of CHD and had participated in a health examination survey from 1967 to 1972. In total, 335 men and 163 women died of CHD during a follow-up until the end of 1992. A dietary history interview method provided data on habitual consumption of fish and other foods over the preceding year at baseline. The intakes of long-chain n−3 fatty acids were calculated on the basis of food composition values of Finnish foods. Higher consumption of fish was associated with a decreased risk of CHD among women, whereas no significant association was seen among men. The relative risk between the highest and the lowest quintile for fish consumption was 1·00 (95% CI 0·70, 1·43; p for trend 0·83) for men and 0·59 (95% CI 0·36, 0·99; p for trend 0·02) for women in analysis adjusting for age, energy intake, geographical area, BMI, serum cholesterol, blood pressure, smoking, occupation and diabetes; however, after adjustment for dietary confounders this association was no longer significant. The intake of n−3 fatty acids was not significantly associated with the risk of CHD in either men or women. In conclusion, our results for women are in line with the suggested protective effect of fish consumption against CHD but a similar association was not, however, found in men.

The present study examined the effects of a 3-week fish-oil supplementation (6 g/d) on the rate of plasma glucose disappearance (Rd glucose), hepatic glucose production (HGP), carbohydrate oxidation and lipid oxidation during exercise. Six untrained males (23±1 years; 67·6±2·7kg) performed two 90min cycling exercise sessions at 60% of maximal O2 output separated by 20 d. During the 20 d before the first test, they ingested 6g olive oil/d, then 6g fish oil/d during the 20 d before the second test. Plasma glucose fluxes and lipolysis were traced using 6,6-[2H2]glucose and 1,1,2,3,3-[2H5]glycerol respectively. Substrates oxidation was obtained from indirect calorimetry. At rest HGP and the Rd glucose were similar after olive oil and fish oil (1.83 (se 0·05) v. 1·67 (se 0·11) mg/kg per min). During exercise, fish oil reduced the stimulation of both the Rd glucose (5·06 (se 0·23) v. 6·37 (se 0·12) mg/kg per min; P<0·05) and HGP (4·88 (se 0·24) v. 5·91 (se 0·21) mg/kg per min; P<0·05). Fish oil also reduced glucose metabolic clearance rate (6·93 (se 0·29) v. 8·30 (se 0·57) ml/min). Carbohydrate oxidation tended to be less stimulated by exercise after fish oil than after olive oil (12·09 (se 0·60) v. 13·86 (se 1·11) mg/kg per min; NS). Lipid oxidation tended to be more stimulated by exercise after fish oil (7·34 (se 0·45) v. 6·85 (se 0·17) mg/kg per min; NS). Glycaemia, lactataemia, insulinaemia and glucagonaemia were similarly affected by exercise after fish oil and olive oil. Lipolysis at rest was similar after fish oil and olive oil (2·92 (se 0·42) v. 2·94 (se 0·28) μmol/kg per min) and similarly stimulated by exercise (6·42 (se 0·75) v. 6·77 (se 0·72) μmol/kg per min). It is concluded that fish oil reduced the Rd glucose by 26% by reducing glucose metabolic clearance rate, possibly by facilitating fat oxidation, and reduced HGP by 21%, possibly by a feedback mechanism.

The interaction between essential dietary components and changes in tissue nutrient reserves, egg quality and egg composition, were studied from 60 d before and during the spawning of Sparus aurata broodstock. Fish were given isonitrogenous (550 g/kg dry weight) and isolipidic (100 g/kg dry weight) diets, based on protein and lipid extracts of squid meal. Diets differed in the levels of n−6 (10–30 mg/g dry weight) and n−3 (0–10 mg/g dry weight) essential fatty acids. The effects of these diets on biochemical and fatty acid composition of body tissues, and the subsequent effects on egg composition and egg viability were measured. Dietary essential fatty acids were mostly incorporated into the liver, ovaries, digestive tract and associated adipose tissues. The lipid composition of these tissues reached an equilibrium with dietary lipid composition within 15 d of feeding on any given diet. Muscle and gill cartilage tissues did not show any significant changes in their biochemical and fatty acid composition, even after 60 d feeding. Egg viability decreased significantly within 10 d of feeding the broodstock with a diet deficient in n−3 highly unsaturated fatty acids (n−3 HUFA). The levels of n−3 HUFA in both polar and neutral fractions of egg lipid were directly correlated with their levels in the broodstock diet. When the total amount of egg n−3 HUFA dropped below 17 mg/g dry weight, egg viability and larvae hatching rate decreased by 53% and 47 % respectively. These results suggest that the biochemical composition of organs involved in S. aurata reproduction are highly sensitive to the nutritional value of the diet, which affects egg and larval quality rapidly.