Pregnant women can safely eat most seafood, and doing so provides major benefits for fetal brain development. The FDA and EPA recommend eating 2 to 3 servings (8 to 12 ounces) of low-mercury fish per week during pregnancy. The key is choosing the right types and making sure everything is fully cooked.
Why Seafood Matters During Pregnancy
Seafood is the primary dietary source of DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid that serves as a critical building block for the fetal brain and retina. DHA drives the formation of neurons and synapses during fetal development and continues to be important through the first two years of life. Children born to mothers who ate no seafood during pregnancy had the highest risk of scoring in the lowest quartile for verbal IQ, performance IQ, fine motor skills, and social development when tested years later. The more seafood mothers consumed, the less likely their children were to have these outcomes.
Consensus guidelines recommend pregnant women get at least 200 mg of DHA per day. Eating 2 to 3 servings of low-mercury fish per week provides roughly that amount. Fish oil and algae-based DHA supplements also work and have shown similar benefits in studies, but whole fish delivers additional protein, vitamin D, selenium, and iodine that supplements don’t.
Best Choices: Lowest Mercury
These fish and shellfish have the lowest mercury levels. You can safely eat 2 to 3 servings per week (8 to 12 ounces total), mixing and matching however you like. One serving is about 4 ounces, roughly the size of your palm.
- Popular everyday picks: Salmon, shrimp, tilapia, cod, catfish, pollock, canned light tuna (skipjack)
- Shellfish: Shrimp, crab, lobster (American and spiny), clams, scallops, oysters (cooked), crawfish, squid
- Other safe fish: Sardines, anchovies, herring, haddock, sole, flounder, trout (freshwater), whitefish, Atlantic mackerel, Pacific chub mackerel, perch, whiting
Salmon and sardines are particularly good choices because they’re among the highest in DHA while also being very low in mercury. Shrimp is the most popular seafood in the U.S. and is perfectly safe during pregnancy.
Good Choices: Moderate Mercury
These fish have somewhat higher mercury levels. Limit them to 1 serving (4 ounces) per week, and don’t eat any other fish that week.
- Common options: Halibut, mahi mahi, snapper, grouper, Chilean sea bass, monkfish, sablefish, rockfish
- Tuna: Albacore (white) tuna, both canned and fresh, and yellowfin tuna
- Others: Bluefish, carp, Spanish mackerel, striped bass, tilefish (Atlantic Ocean only)
The Tuna Question
Tuna is one of the most confusing items on the list because different types fall into different safety categories. Canned light tuna, which is usually skipjack, is a “Best Choice” and safe for 2 to 3 servings per week. Albacore (white) tuna contains about three times more mercury than canned light tuna, so it’s limited to 1 serving per week with no other fish that week. Bigeye tuna, often served in sushi restaurants, should be avoided entirely during pregnancy.
Yellowfin tuna falls in the moderate category alongside albacore. If a can or restaurant menu just says “tuna” without specifying the type, it’s worth asking.
Fish to Avoid Completely
Seven types of fish have mercury levels high enough that the FDA says pregnant women should not eat them at all:
- King mackerel
- Marlin
- Orange roughy
- Shark
- Swordfish
- Tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico
- Bigeye tuna
These are all large, long-lived predatory fish that accumulate mercury over their lifespans. Mercury in seafood exists as methylmercury, which crosses the placenta and can damage the developing fetal brain even at levels the mother tolerates without symptoms. Exposure affects the nervous system, potentially leading to developmental delays and problems with motor skills.
Raw Fish and Sushi Are Off the Table
All seafood during pregnancy needs to be fully cooked. Raw or undercooked fish carries a heightened risk of Listeria bacteria, parasites, and other foodborne pathogens that pose serious dangers during pregnancy. Listeria infection can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, or severe illness in a newborn, including seizures, organ damage, and developmental problems. The bacteria specifically targets the blood system of the baby and can affect the brain and liver.
This means avoiding sashimi, raw nigiri, raw maki rolls, and seared (undercooked) fish. Sushi made with cooked ingredients, like shrimp tempura rolls, California rolls with imitation crab, or cooked eel rolls, is fine as long as the ingredients are fully cooked and the roll is freshly prepared.
How to Cook Seafood Safely
Fish should reach an internal temperature of 145°F (63°C). If you don’t have a food thermometer, cook fish until the flesh is opaque (milky white) and flakes easily with a fork. Shrimp and lobster should turn opaque and white. Scallops should be opaque and firm. Clams, mussels, and oysters are done when their shells open; throw away any that stay closed.
Smoked seafood labeled “nova style,” “lox,” or “kippered” is typically refrigerated and not fully cooked. These carry Listeria risk and should be avoided unless they’re in a cooked dish like a casserole. Canned or shelf-stable smoked seafood is safe.
Locally Caught Fish
If you eat fish caught by friends or family in local rivers, lakes, or coastal waters, check for local fish advisories before eating them. States, territories, and Tribes issue advisories for specific waterways based on contamination testing. Mercury and other pollutants like PCBs can vary dramatically from one body of water to another, and locally caught fish aren’t monitored the way commercially sold seafood is. You can find advisories for your area through your state’s environmental or health department. If no advisory is available for a particular waterway, limit locally caught fish to one serving per week and don’t eat other fish that week.