This Indonesian Fish Has the Highest Omega-3 Content in the World, Surpassing Salmon

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Salmon has long been renowned as a prime source of Omega-3. However, few people realise that Indonesia also possesses a local fish with the highest Omega-3 content in the world.

Principal Expert Researcher from the Centre for Limnology and Water Resources Research at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Gadis Sri Haryani, explained that eels have superior nutritional content compared to salmon or snakehead fish.

In addition to Omega-3, eels are also rich in vitamin A, B-complex vitamins, iron, protein, calories, and phosphorus.

“So far, we’ve always thought salmon had the highest levels, but it turns out eels have the highest nutritional value,” said Gadis at the seminar titled ‘Strengthening Governance and Downstream Processing of the Eel Industry as a Basis for Formulating a National Policy on Sustainable Fisheries’, as reported from BRIN’s official website.

DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) in eels plays a crucial role in human brain development and function. Meanwhile, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) helps reduce inflammation and maintain heart health.

Gadis assessed that a sustainable and science-based management approach can mitigate excessive exploitation that could threaten the eel population in the future. This is because eels represent one of Indonesia’s strategic economic fishery resources.

Moreover, eels are a critical biology, featuring a catadromous life cycle.

“Catadromous means that when they spawn and hatch in the sea, they become leptocephalus or unique eel larvae, flat, transparent, and leaf-like in shape, without swimming ability,” she explained.

“Then, during the journey from deep ocean waters to estuaries or semi-enclosed bodies of water at river mouths where freshwater mixes with seawater, they transform into glass eels,” she added.