FISH CONSUMPTION FALLS BY 15.6% IN 2022

Fish consumption falls by 15.6% in 2022 and the sector calls for reflection from the political environment to change this trend due to its serious consequences. The Spanish fishing sector, represented by the Spanish Fisheries Confederation (CEPESCA), has once again drawn attention to the continuous decline in the consumption of fishery products in Spanish households. In fact, and according to the latest data made public by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA), in 2022 it has suffered a new contraction of 15.6%, standing at 19.9 kg per person / year compared to 22.72 kg in 2021.

In fact, the volume of fish consumed in households in our country in 2022 is the lowest in the entire historical series, with the only exception of 2020 coinciding with the Covid-19 pandemic, and accumulates a fall of 32.8% since 2008. As a result of these data, the sector draws the attention of the next Government to the need to adopt measures capable of reversing this situation, given the consequences that a poor intake of fishery products has for health.

According to Javier Garat, Secretary General of CEPESCA:

“it is essential that from the political environment initiatives are intensified to promote the right to healthy food with a product, in addition, that is obtained under compliance with strict regulations, with respect for the environment, with one of the smallest carbon footprints in the world, with hardly any water footprint and with social roots, economic and cultural that make it part of our heritage.” “We still do not understand,” adds Garat, “why the consumption of fishery products is not supported by the reduction of VAT, if all nutrition experts and medical practitioners identify fish and seafood as a basic and fundamental food within a healthy diet.”

Decrease in value

As a result of the reduction in consumption, the market value of fishery products intended for consumption in the household is also falling. Thus, although the average price grew by 7.4% in 2022 compared to 2021, standing at 9.99 €/kg, the total value was 8,861.4 million euros, representing a decrease of 9.4%. The per capita expenditure on fishery products consumed at home at the end of 2022 was €191.58.

According to data from the MAPA report, fishery products represented only 3.24% of the average total volume of the shopping basket of Spanish households in 2022, which allocated 11.88% of their average budget to the purchase of these products.

In 2022, all segments of the seafood group suffered a decline in volume purchases compared to 2021. In the case of fresh fish, it went from 9.63 kg to 8.01 kg and frozen fish (from 2.27 kg to 1.98 kg), fresh shellfish, molluscs and crustaceans (from 3.38 kg to 2.72 kg), cooked shellfish, molluscs and crustaceans (from 0.77 kg to 0.63 kg) and canned fish (from 4.52 kg to 4.05 kg) also fell.

Since 2008, the fall in the consumption of fishery products is especially noticeable for fresh seafood, molluscs and crustaceans, with a reduction in volume of 45%, as well as fresh fish, which in 2022 loses 38.6% of the volume compared to that year. On the contrary, the segment of cooked seafood, molluscs and crustaceans registers the least pronounced fall in consumption within the household (15.1%), while canned seafood and fish are the only products whose consumption in households compared to 2008 grows, specifically 6%.

Socio-economic profile of the fish consumer

The data in the MAPA report also reflect this downward trend in seafood consumption from the point of view of consumer profile. According to Cepesca, this photograph is highly worrying since it allows us to verify that the lowest intake corresponds to groups in which its consumption should be a priority, such as children and young people. Thus, below the average consumption of 19.9 kg, there are couples with small and middle-aged children (7.85 kg and 11.79 kg, respectively), single-parent households (15.89 kg), independent young people (17.68 kg) and couples with older children (18.98 kg).

In the opposite spectrum, with above-average consumption, are independent adults, adult couples without children and retired people, with a per capita consumption of 29.22 kg, 29.82 kg and 36.94 kg, respectively.

On the other hand, when the data on per capita consumption of fishery products by socioeconomic status are analysed, it is found that the average (19.9 kg) is exceeded by citizens of the upper and upper middle class (29.72 kg), while citizens in a medium, medium-low and low socioeconomic situation are below the average (18.98 kg, 17.79 kg and 17.93 kg, respectively).

According to Javier Garat:

“it is evident that Spanish society is moving away from the Mediterranean and Atlantic diets, recognised as one of the factors that have allowed Spain to be at the top of the ranking of countries for longevity and quality of life. From the sector”, says Garat-, “we work to contribute to the knowledge of the health benefits of fishery products and avoid the loss of these dietary patterns that, without a doubt, would have disastrous consequences for the health of citizens.”

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