Americans Are Eating More Seafood

IFT. According to a recent report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Americans consumed nearly five billion pounds of seafood in 2015, making the United States the world’s second largest consumer of seafood after China.

• The average American ate 15.5 pounds of fish and shellfish in 2015, an increase of 0.9 pounds from 2014. Of this, 11.5 pounds were fresh and frozen seafood – up from 10.5 pounds in 2013.
• There was also an increase in consumption of canned seafood products driven by an increase in canned salmon production in 2015. However, canned tuna remained the most popular canned seafood, with the average consumer eating 2.2 pounds of it compared to 0.3 pounds of canned salmon.
• More than 90% of the seafood consumed in the United States is imported. However, the NOAA report notes that a significant portion of this imported seafood is caught by American fishermen, exported overseas for processing, and then reimported to the United States.

Read more about seafood in QA's October/November cover story on Trident Seafood: From the Pristine Waters of Alaska.