When processed fish is finally consumed by the public, edible yet discarded fish (due to health concerns) account for 41 to 56 percent of the total seafood supply loss. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
A recent Johns Hopkins-funded study found that 40 to 47 percent of the U.S. seafood supply is lost (1). In the study published this past August, authors Dave Love, Jillian Fry, Michael Milli, and Roni Neff attempted to quantify the loss of seafood supply and, therefore, the loss of nutrition, a study significant to U.S. finances, population health, and the sustainability of current fisheries.
The authors used existing seafood supply data reports from 2009 to 2013 to calculate estimates. They estimated that, in the U.S. food supply, there were 0.26 million metric tons (MMT) of edible bycatch, non-target species caught by fishers that were then discarded, a sum of both domestic and imported sources (1). Bycatch accounts for the largest loss in the seafood production and consumption process in the U.S., representing 16 to 32 percent of the total loss. When processed fish is finally consumed by the public, edible yet discarded fish (due to health concerns) account for 41 to 56 percent of the total seafood supply loss. In total, 1.0 MMT of seafood is lost, representing 44 percent, or a range of 40 to 47 percent, of the edible U.S. food supply that was lost annually between 2009 and 2013 (1).
In the 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the government encouraged citizens to increase their seafood consumption from the current median of 3.0 to 8.0 ounces per person per week, a level that the U.S. edible seafood supply of 4.5 ounces per person per week cannot support (1). This lack of seafood represents a significant loss to the U.S. population’s nutrition, with conservative estimates of 208 billion grams of protein, 1.8 trillion mg of EPA+DHA, omega-3 fatty acids, and 1.1 trillion kilocalories due to lost edible seafood supply (1). The study also quantified this loss as the total yearly quantity of protein for 10.1 million men or 12.4 million women, omega-3 fatty acids for 20.1 million adults, and calories for 1.5 million adults (1). In order for the U.S. population to meet the government’s guidelines for maintaining good health, the U.S. seafood supply must be drastically increased.
Simply increasing fishing demands would add even more stress to already overfished ecosystems and contribute to the already limited and uncertain availability or ability to acquire acceptable foods (1, 2). The study therefore encourages the adoption of seafood loss prevention methods, such as the creation of incentives and the education of businesses and consumers about food safety to prevent unnecessary seafood disposal, to recoup some of the supply loss. These measures could fill 36 percent of the gap between current and recommended levels of seafood consumption, potentially improve fishery sustainability, and reduce carbon and energy used in the seafood production and trade (1).
References:
- Love, Dave. C., Fry, Jillian P., Milli, Michael C., & Neff, Roni A. (2015). Wasted seafood in the United States: Quantifying loss from production to consumption and moving toward solutions. Global Environmental Change 35, 116-124. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378015300340
- United States Department of Agriculture (2015, September 8). Food Security in the U.S. – Measurement. Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/measurement.aspx