The average American chewed and swallowed a little more than 16 pounds of fish and shellfish last year.

Probably not all at once.

That’s a one percent decline from 2006’s slimy food consumption tally based on data compiled by what has got to be among the coolest federal agencies: the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

While other more boring branches of the government are doing God knows what, the NMFS took the time to figure out that Americans consumed a total of 4.90 billion pounds of seafood in 2007, which they reported last week is slightly less than the 4.94 billion pounds eaten in 2006.

While the U.S. may likely pummel them both in the upcoming Olympics, America continues to lag behind stalwart fish-eating champions China and Japan as the third-largest consumer of fish and shellfish.

As far as fish goes, it’s not much more than a side dish in this country in terms of numbers as carnivorous Americans tend to steer towards beef, which is the most popular meat meal per pound.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (which also tracks interesting data, but isn’t even close to being as cool as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) says the average American in 2005 ate 67 pounds of beef, followed closely by chicken at 60 pounds, and my favorite anytime meal — pork — at 46.5 pounds.

So among the fish and shellfish, what landed on Americans’ plates the most last year?

Salad- and barbecue-friendly shrimp of all varieties topped the choice for seafood at 4.1 pounds per person. Americans ate 12.1 pounds of fresh and frozen finfish, according to NMF data.

Although I couldn’t find the specific data breakdown, it’s safe to say Americans came in dead last again among countries that consume the raw version of fish and non-finned things in the water that float, live in the sand or cling to heavy things.

Similar to the OPEC oil dilemma U.S. motorists are dealing with, NMFS tells us that our nation imports about 84 percent of its seafood, which is an alarming and steadily increasing proportion.
Imports accounted for only 63 percent of U.S. seafood just a decade ago.

For those who enjoy fish for dinner, it means prices are going up and so is the likelihood that they come from someplace with lax environmental standards, too.

Just as we must break out of our inertia to diversify our energy options and revamp our oil policies, we have to get a handle on this fish situation before it’s a thing of the past, although ironically, the two may be at odds with each in some situations.

NMFS says at least half of the seafood imported to the U.S. is farmed, but that aquaculture production in the rest of the world has expanded dramatically in the last 30 years and now supplies half of the world seafood demand.

The North Coast is blessed to have a fresh supply of fish and shellfish close to home — most years.

Jim Balsiger, acting NOAA assistant administrator for NMFS, stated in a news release that, while NOAA is working to end overfishing and rebuild wild fish stocks, the U.S. also needs more sustainable domestic aquaculture to help meet consumer demand for healthy seafood and narrow the foreign trade gap.

With the West Coast in the grips of the worst-ever salmon fisheries closures, let’s hope the government can take the right actions and also get out of the way where it’s appropriate to turn this around.

(Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of The Eureka Reporter or its staff.)