February 5, 2007

 

US consumption of seafood down slightly but prices up

 

 

Americans are consuming slightly lesser seafood but paying more for it, as figures by the US Department of Commerce's National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration showed.

 

The figures were revealed in the 2005 edition of the department's annual publication, "Fisheries of the United States.

 

Americans' consumption of seafood has fallen 2 percent in 2005 compared to 2004, according to the report.

 

Americans ate 16.2 pounds of seafood per person in 2005, compared to 16.6 pounds in 2004.

 

Despite the decline, expenditures for seafood products increased by USUS$3.3 billion, representing a five percent increase for a total of US$65.2 billion.

 

In 2005, Americans spent USUS$44.5 billion in seafood restaurants, a US$1.7 billion increase over 2004, at the same time, they bought US$20.5 billion worth of seafood for home consumption, an increase of US$1.6 billion over 2004.

 

Still, overall seafood consumption in the United States have showed an upward trend in the past five years. In 2001 the consumption rate was 14.8 pounds, in 2002 it was 15.6 pounds, and in 2003 it was 16.3 pounds.

 

Americans consumed a total of 4.8 billion pounds of seafood in 2005. The nation still imports roughly 80 percent of its seafood, and remains the third largest global consumer of fish and shellfish, behind Japan and China.

 

Shrimp continues to be the top consumed seafood species in the United States at 4.1 pounds of shrimp consumed in 2005, down 0.1 pounds from 2004.

 

Of the total 16.2 pounds of seafood consumed per person, 11.6 pounds were fresh and frozen finfish and shellfish, down 0.2 pounds from last year. Canned seafood consumption dropped 0.2 pounds to 4.3 pounds per capita.  Consumption of fillets and steaks reached a record figure, up 0.4 pounds to 5.0 pounds per person. Canned tuna consumption fell 0.2 pounds to 3.1 pounds per person.

 

NOAA Fisheries Service has been keeping track of US seafood consumption since 1910.