Beating Salmon, This Indonesian Fish Has the World's Highest Omega-3 Content

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Eel is one of Indonesia’s fish species that is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. Its nutritional content is even said to be higher than that found in salmon and snakehead fish.

Besides being rich in Omega-3, eel also contains various other important nutrients, such as vitamin A, vitamin B complex, iron, protein, calories, and phosphorus.

“All this time, we have always thought salmon was the highest, but it turns out eel actually has the highest nutritional value,” said Gadis Sri Haryani, Principal Expert Researcher at the Research Centre for Limnology and Water Resources of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), as quoted from BRIN’s official website, Saturday (29/8/2026).

Eel is very good for the human body because it contains Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) for brain development and function, as well as Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) which helps reduce inflammation while maintaining heart health.

In addition, eel is one of the fishery resources with strategic economic potential in Indonesia. Gadis reminded of the need for a science-based sustainable management approach to prevent overexploitation that could threaten eel populations in the future.

Eel has a catadromous life cycle, meaning it spends most of its time in freshwater and only migrates to marine waters when it is about to spawn.

“Catadromous means that when it hatches from eggs in the sea, it becomes a leptocephalus, or a unique eel larva, which has a flat, transparent, leaf-like shape and does not yet have the ability to swim,” she explained.

“Then, during the journey from deep marine waters to the estuary — or a semi-enclosed body of water at the river mouth where freshwater mixes with seawater — this larva transforms into a glass eel,” she added.