Per Capita Seafood Consumption

Like many consumable goods, the recession led seafood consumption to slow. The economic downturn restricted consumers’ disposable incomes, resulting in consumption dips for most goods. The dip in higher-priced goods, like seafood, was more pronounced as consumers shifted their consumption to cheaper products; in the case of seafood, cheaper forms of protein. After 2.5% and 0.6% drops in consumption in 2008 and 2009, respectively, consumption lost steam in 2010 amid the chaos of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The downward trend continued in 2011 and 2012, with consumption falling sharply by 5.7% and 4.7%, respectively. Consumption declined because of contamination concerns and the loss of supply drove the price spike.

Following the period, per capita seafood consumption has returned and experienced sustainable growth, supported by the improving economic environment. The economy’s growth has increased consumer spending, boosting the consumption of relatively expensive seafood products. Additionally, solid landings and the value of US fisheries have bolstered seafood consumption. As a result, per capita seafood consumption grew in most of the period following declines in 2012, growing as high as 8.1% in 2017.

The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic precipitated a drop in seafood production and consumption in 2020. According to NOAA Fisheries, total landings in 2020 slumped to 8.4 billion pounds of seafood, a 10.0% drop from 2019. These declines stemmed from the pandemic, which closed vital markets such as restaurants, a significant seafood producer market. As a result, fishing activity was hampered in the year and was slowed by disruptions in export markets, which disincentive fishing activity to a more limited basis since seafood items are priced more highly than other sources of proteins, such as poultry, consumer demand in the year shifted, which hurt consumption levels for seafood as a result. The economic downturn, similar to previous recessionary periods where consumers with less income to spare consumed fewer seafood items, also hurt consumption levels.

While the global economy has recovered since the initial outbreak, which aided in consumption levels again in 2021, rising inflationary pressures have caused consumption levels to fall again in 2022. For instance, the world price of crude oil has persistently risen since its lows at the height of the pandemic, reaching $81.72 per barrel. Rising fuel prices amplify transportation costs, constraining profitability for transportation service providers. Moreover, disposable income levels decreased in 2022, which pushed more consumers to become more cost-conscious in the items they purchase, which has hurt demand for seafood, giving the higher production costs to catch and process fish back on consumers who have to pay more so that they can eat seafood. With the continuation of these inflationary pressures in 2023, seafood consumption is expected to drop by 1.6% in 2023. Economic pressures will push consumers to shop within their means, shaking up what they buy and cutting down seafood consumption in 2024 and 2025.