Newsletter Home     Industry Bite     Wild Watch     Featured Articles     Featured Recipe     Order Materials Seafood consumption continues to soar! According to a study released by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service, Americans ate 16.5 pounds of fish and shellfish per person in 2006 - a 2% increase over the 2005 consumption figure of 16.2 pounds. This came to a total of 4.9 billion pounds of seafood in 2006. Of this total, Americans consumed a record 12.3 pounds of fresh and frozen finfish and shellfish (up 0.7 pounds from last year). Also, consumption of fillets and steaks has gone up 0.2 pounds from last year, to a record 5.2 pounds. Additionally, according to a June survey conducted by Harris Interactive with input from the Food Marketing Institute, 38% of Americans said that they would purchase sustainable seafood. Sources: July 17, 2007 Gourmet Retailer newsletter and July 19, 2007 Progressive Grocer newsletter