SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Seafoodnews.com] — October 30, 2013 — Higher prices for seafood have taken a brutal toll on US per capita fish consumption, according to NMFS figures released this morning.
The annual Fisheries of the U.S. says that overall per capita consumption of fish and shellfish fell from 15.0 lbs to 14.6 lbs per capita. This is the lowest level in more than 20 years.
A decline in shrimp consumption was the biggest single factor in the falloff. Shrimp consumption declined from 4.2 to 3.8 lbs, a drop of 9.5%. For shrimp, this is the lowest per capita volume since 2002.
Canned tuna was the other factor in the decline, with consumption falling 7.7%, to 2.4 lbs per capita.
The only bright spot in the report was that consumption of fresh and frozen fish fillets climbed 12%, and is the highest it has been since 1984, up to 5.6 lbs per capita. This is driven by increases in pollock, pangasius, salmon and cod.
However, the falloff in frozen shrimp more than offset the gains in fish fillets.
The reason for the drop in consumption is also due to less fish landed domestically. NMFS says that imports increased by 16.9 million lbs, but this was offset by a drop in the total calculated supply of 539 million pounds, along with an increase in US population. However, shrimp and tuna are both primarily imported products, and acounted for the bulk of the drop in consumption. Volume was made up with other imported species.
Between 2010 and 2012, the overall price index for fishery products increased by 25%, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The price increases have accelerated in 2013. As a result, the consumption figures for 2013 are likely to be even lower.
Other news from the NMFS announcement was that as usual, Dutch Harbor continued to have the highest volume of landings, and New Bedford the highest value. Dutch Harbor landed 752 million pounds, up from 706 million pounds in 2011. Sea scallops accounted for more than 80 percent of the value of New Bedford landings.
Healthy, sustainable fish and shellfish stocks are incredibly important to our nation’s social and economic fabric,” said Sam Rauch, acting NOAA assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “The high landings and value of seafood in 2012 support the three-decade long effort that has gone into ending overfishing in the U.S. Thanks to our partners, the regional fishery management councils and especially U.S. fishermen, we now have some of the most responsibly managed, sustainable fisheries in the world.”
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.