March 14, 2006

South Korea's seafood consumption rises slightly in 2005

South Korea's seafood consumption increased more than 6 percent in 2005 from a year earlier as people became more health-conscious, a government report said Monday.

South Koreans consumed 4.17 million tonnes of seafood last year, up 6.3 percent from a year earlier, while seafood production came to 2.71 million tonnes, up 7.8 percent, according to the report by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

A total of 383,000 tonnes of pollack were consumed last year, more than any other type of seafood, followed by squid with 266,000 tonnes, mackerel with 180,000 tonnes, cutlass fish with 105,000 tonnes and yellow corvina with 83,000 tonnes.

Consumption of pollack, mackerel, cutlass fish and corvina fell 5 to 7 percent on-year in 2005, according to the report.