A new research revealed that almost half of the edible seafood in the United States goes to waste due to inefficiencies and consumer refuse.
The study, which is published in the Global Environmental Change Journal, suggested that consumers discard a total of 1.3 billion pounds yearly, fishers throw away 570 million pounds when they catch the wrong species and 330 pounds are lost during distribution.
The U.S. dietary guidelines endorsed that most Americans increase their seafood intake, Time shared. The study found out that the wasted fish encompasses enough protein to meet the requirements of more than 10 million people each year.
"If we're told to eat significantly more seafood but the supply is severely threatened, it is critical and urgent to reduce waste of seafood," study leader David Love, PhD, a researcher with the Public Health and Sustainable Aquaculture project at the CLF and an assistant scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said.
Director of Food System Sustainability &Public Health Program Roni Neff said that waste reduction has the potential to support increased seafood consumption without further stressing aquatic resources. She, who is also an assistant professor with the Bloomberg School of Public Health, said that "we do not intend to suggest that all of it could or should become food for humans" while a portion of loss could be recovered for human consumption.
"It would generally be preferable for the fish that becomes bycatch to be left alive in the water rather than eaten, and due to seafood's short shelf life, it may be particularly challenging compared to other food items to get the remaining seafood eaten or frozen before it decays," Dr. Roni added. Instead, she recommended a creation of a more efficient and sustainable system, and more focus on prevention strategies involving consumers, businesses and governments that could reduce sea food loss.
The news follows recent attention by the public and policymakers to the scale of food waste in the U.S. The federal government announced plans to cut food waste in half by 2030 last week.
Dave, Neff, Jillian P. Fry and Michael C. Milli wrote the study entitled "Wasted seafood in the United States: Quantifying loss from production to consumption and moving toward solutions."
