Nearly all of American’s favorite seafood species held their respective positions on the National Fisheries Institute’s Top 10 list for 2008, released on Thursday. What’s more, U.S. per-capita seafood consumption slipped 0.3 pounds to 16 pounds, the lowest amount in six years.
The top eight species on the McLean, Va., trade association’s list remained unchanged from 2007.
Shrimp again ranked No. 1, the spot it’s held since passing canned tuna in 2001. Americans ate 4.1 pounds of shrimp per capita last year, the same as in 2007.
Canned tuna followed shrimp at 2.8 pounds, up from 2.7 pounds in 2007. Salmon ranked No. 3 at 1.84 pounds, down from 2.36 pounds in 2007. At No. 4, Alaska pollock also tumbled from 1.73 pounds in 2007 to 1.34 pounds in 2008. However, tilapia jumped to 1.19 pound last year from 1.14 pounds the previous year. Trailing tilapia were catfish (0.92 pounds), crab (0.61 pounds) and cod (0.44 pounds).
The only movement on the list between 2007 and 2008 came as flatfish and clams flipped positions. Flatfish ranked No. 9 at 0.43 pounds, while clams ranked No. 10 at 0.42 pounds.
The list was compiled by H.M. Johnson & Associates of Jacksonville, Ore., and based on figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
On Wednesday, NOAA unveiled that U.S. per-capita seafood consumption totaled 16 pounds last year, down from 16.3 pounds in 2007 and the lowest total since 2002’s 15.6 pounds. It reached a record 16.6 pounds in 2004.
