U.S. per-capita seafood consumption reached 16 pounds last year, according to figures the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released on Wednesday. That’s down from 16.3 pounds in 2007 and the lowest amount since 2002’s 15.6 pounds.
According to NOAA’s Fisheries of the United States 2008, Americans spent USD 69.8 billion (EUR 49 billion) on seafood last year — USD 46.8 billion at foodservice and USD 22.7 billion at retail, with industrial seafood products accounting for the remaining USD 389.4 million.
In 2007, Americans dished out USD 68.4 billion (EUR 48.1 billion) on seafood — USD 45.8 billion at foodservice, USD 22.1 billion at retail and USD 474.2 for industrial seafood products.
The U.S. seafood supply (edible, round weight) totaled 11.8 billion pounds in 2008, down from 12.5 billion pounds in 2007.
Last year, U.S. seafood imports (edible, round weight) reached 10.5 billion pounds, down from 10.8 billion pounds in 2007, while U.S. seafood exports (edible, round weight) totaled 5.3 billion pounds, down from 5.8 billion pounds in 2007. Total U.S. seafood landings (edible, round weight) reached 6.6 billion pounds in 2008, compared to 7.5 billion pounds in 2007.
What’s more, imports represented 88.3 percent of the total U.S. seafood supply last year, up from 86.2 percent in 2007, 87.1 percent in 2006 and 86.3 percent in 2006.
To download a copy of Fisheries of the United States 2008, click here.
