"About 20 percent of the new-product entries at this show are made with tilapia," said Fiona Robinson, editor of Seafood Business. "It's really become more popular and is the darling of casual dining restaurants. It's farmed, so the supply is steady. And people love it. Like cod or haddock, it doesn't taste fishy, and it's easy to flavor any way you like."
And while barramundi and Kona Kampachi made headlines last year as high-end fish, she expects that this year there will be some buzz about cobia, now that the saltwater sport fish is being farmed in inland waters.
And after five years of trending upward, there are hints that America's desire to bump up its Omega-3s might be slowing down. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently said that Americans ate 16.2 pounds of fish and shellfish per person in 2005, which actually represents a 2% decrease from 2004 consumption rates. Robinson said most industry experts believe that slight downturn has more to do with reporting aberrations than actual consumption.
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But consumers are certainly spending more: NOAA says total spending on seafood products increased 5%, to $65.2 billion, with $44.5 billion spent in seafood restaurants (a $1.7 billion increase) and $20.5 billion on seafood to eat at home (a $1.6 billion gain.)
Shrimp continues to be the top consumed seafood in the U.S., followed by canned tuna, which fell by 0.2 pounds, to 3.1 pounds per person. And salmon came in third, increasing to 2.43 pounds per person.