Americans ate less seafood last year

Americans ate less seafood in 2010.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual Report on Fisheries landings and seafood consumption, Americans ate 4.8 billion pounds of seafood in 2010, just a little less than 2009.

That’s still about 15.8 pounds of fish and shellfish per person.

Shrimp remained the top seafood item of choice for the United States at 4 pounds per person.

On average each American ate 11.6 pounds of fresh and frozen finfish and shellfish, 3.9 pounds of canned seafood, primarily canned tuna and about a third of a pound of cured seafood, such as smoked salmon and dried cod.

America remains the third largest global consumer of fish and shellfish, behind Japan and China.

Roughly 86 percent of our seafood was imported last year – that’s up 4 percent from the year before.

Farmed seafood comprises almost half of the imported seafood.

America’s aquaculture industry currently meets less than ten percent of U.S. demand for seafood.

Most of the U.S. aquaculture industry is catfish, with marine aquaculture products like oysters, clams, mussels and salmon supplying less than two percent of American seafood demand.

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