Associations representing some of the largest seafood companies in the Americas have partnered to launch a nationwide campaign to encourage consumers to boost seafood consumption.

The 12-week campaign, organized by the Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP) under a new group called the Seafood4Health Action Coalition, launched Tuesday, with a focus on seafood's health benefits and the additional benefits seafood consumption brings to the estimated two million workers that depend on the sector.

The campaign -- dubbed “Eat Seafood, America!” -- launched a dedicated webpage, calling on consumers to post photos of their seafood meals on social media with the tag #eatseafoodamerica, and offering sample social media images for companies to spread word of the campaign.

More than 20 groups are part of the coalition, including:

  • Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute
  • Aquaculture Stewardship Council
  • Aquarium of the Pacific
  • Seafood for the Future
  • Chilean Salmon Marketing Council
  • Coastal Culinary Academy
  • FishChoice
  • FishWise
  • FMI: The Food Industry Association
  • Seafood Strategy Leadership Council
  • Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers
  • Global Aquaculture Alliance
  • Global Salmon Initiative
  • Pacific Seafood Processors Association
  • Maine Aquaculture Association
  • Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association
  • Marine Stewardship Council
  • Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch
  • National Fisheries Institute
  • NOAA Fisheries & Aquaculture
  • Sea Pact
  • Seafood Harvesters of America
  • SeaShare

The food sector, particularly the restaurant industry, has been among the hardest hit in both the United States and around the globe.

US consumers alone spent an estimated $102.2 billion (€93.2 billion) on seafood products in 2017, including $69.6 billion (€63.6 billion) at restaurants and other foodservice venues, and $32.5 billion (€29.7 billion) at retail.

US restaurants had sales of $450 billion (€408 billion) during the 12-month period ending in January, according to market analysts NPD. Just over 48 percent of this is from off-premise dining such as takeout or delivery.

The move follows another major effort to help aid the sector. Last month, North American seafood companies, including Trident Seafoods, Pacific Seafoods, High Liner Foods, Cargill and Cooke wrote to the Trump administration requesting urgent support.

The letter, signed by 84 seafood executives from all parts of the supply chain, requested a raft of measures, including expanding US Department of Agriculture funding levels by at least $2 billion (€1.9 billion); providing $1.5 billion (€1.4 billion) in relief for fishery disasters caused by federal, state and local government responses to the coronavirus outbreak; and a $500 million (€463.5 million) government program to buy surplus seafood and ship it overseas or to domestic organizations.