Seafood is a healthy food choice, providing key nutrients and healthy protein for everyone from infants to adults. Seafood supplies the nutrients essential for strong bones, brain development, and healthy immune and cardiovascular systems.

Seafood is:

• A good source of high-quality protein
• A good source of long chain omega-3 fatty acids
• Low in saturated fat
• Rich in vitamins and minerals

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2015-2020) recommend eating 8 or more ounces of seafood per week. The guidelines provide specific advice for pregnant or nursing mothers and children.

Mercury is a natural element found in very small quantities in the air, water, soil, and all living things. During the past decade, concern over mercury levels in seafood has been the subject of much research and discussion, causing unwarranted alarm about all seafood and general confusion about what is safe to eat.

While all seafood has small amounts of mercury, researchers have found that the benefits of eating seafood outweigh risks. The mercury levels in seafood vary widely and most species generally have less than one-tenth of the U.S. established guideline for the allowable level of mercury in fish and seafood products.

• 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
• Eating Fish: What Pregnant Women and Parents Should Know
• USDA Food Patterns
• Hawaii Seafood Council's Seafood and Health feature
• U.S. EPA: Local & State Advisories and Technical Resources for Fish and Shellfish Consumption