Consumption in 2008 averaged 16 pounds of fish and shellfish per person, down 2 percent from 16.3 pounds in 2007. It's the lowest total since 15.6 pounds per person in 2002. Of the 16-pound total, 11.6 pounds was fresh and frozen finfish and shellfish.
“I don’t think we really know why, but there was a slight decline,” Connie Barclay, spokeswoman for NOAA Fisheries, told IntraFish.
Overall, Americans consumed 4.58 billion pounds of fish and shellfish last year, down 6.7 percent from the nearly 4.91
