NOAA:
Seafood Consumption Declines Slightly in 2007
The
average American ate 16.3 pounds of fish and shellfish in 2007,
a one percent decline from the 2006 consumption figures of 16.5
pounds, according to a NOAA?s Fisheries Service study.
Americans
consumed a total of 4.908 billion pounds of seafood in 2007,
slightly less than the 4.944 billion pounds in 2006. The U.S.
continues to be ranked the third largest consumer of fish and
shellfish, behind China and Japan.
Shrimp
remained the top choice for seafood in the United States at
4.1 pounds per person, a slight decline of 0.3 pounds from 2006.
Of the total of 16.3 pounds consumed per person, Americans ate
12.1 pounds of fresh and frozen finfish and shellfish, down
0.2 pounds from 2006.
Canned
seafood, primarily canned tuna, remained at 3.9 pounds per person.
Americans consumed five pounds of fillets and steaks, down 0.2
pounds from 2006. These include Alaskan pollock, salmon, flounders,
and cods. The remaining 0.3 pounds is cured seafood such as
smoked salmon and dried cod.
The
nation imports about 84 percent of its seafood, a steadily increasing
proportion. Imports accounted for only 63 percent of U.S. seafood
just a decade ago.
"While NOAA works to end overfishing and rebuild wild fish
stocks, the U.S. also needs more sustainable domestic aquaculture
to help meet consumer demand for healthy seafood and narrow
the foreign trade gap," said Jim Balsiger, acting NOAA
assistant administrator for NOAA's Fisheries Service. "The
National Offshore Aquaculture Act of 2007, pending before Congress,
would provide a clear permitting process for businesses and
individuals to develop safe, sustainable aquaculture in U.S.
federal waters."
At
least half of the seafood imported to the U.S. is farmed. Aquaculture
production in the rest of the world has expanded dramatically
in the last 30 years and now supplies half of the world seafood
demand, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization.
America's
aquaculture industry, though vibrant and diverse, currently
meets only 5 to 7 percent of U.S. demand for seafood. Most of
that is catfish. Marine products such as U.S. farmed oysters,
clams, mussels and salmon supplies 1.5 percent of American seafood
demand.
"Expanding
U.S. aquaculture would provide consumers with more affordable,
locally and regionally produced, safe and healthy seafood,"
said Balsiger. "The development of domestic aquaculture
will complement our wild fisheries and help revitalize waterfront
economies."
NOAA's
Fisheries Service has been calculating the nation's seafood
consumption rates since 1910 to keep consumers and the industry
informed about trends in seafood consumption and trade. The
information is published every year in NOAA's Fisheries Service
annual report, Fisheries of the United States, which will be
released Friday. The report will be posted on the web at http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/st1/index.html
NOAA
is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety
through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related
events and information service delivery for transportation,
and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal
and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation
System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal
partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission
to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated
as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.
