86% of Canadians Eat Fish or Seafood for Nutrition, Despite High Prices: Survey

A fishmonger places a Canadian lobster into a display tank at St. Lawrence Market South in Toronto on Sept. 27, 2018. (Chris Helgren/Reuters)

More than 85 percent of Canadians are still regularly eating “blue foods,” referring to fish and seafood, for nutritional reasons despite the high prices, according to new research.

The Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhouse University conducted a survey on the purchasing motivations of Canadians who buy fish and seafood and released the results on Oct. 24.

The report found that marine proteins continue to hold a prominent place in Canadian diets, with 86.7 percent of respondents indicating that they regularly include fish and seafood in their meals.

Of those who do purchase fish and seafood that responded to the poll of just under 1,000 adults, 64 percent cited nutrition as their motivation, with only 21 percent citing affordability.

In B.C., 45.8 percent of respondents said they ate fish and seafood weekly. Quebec, however, had the lowest consumption of the alternative protein, with only 27.2 percent stating they ate it weekly.

The report indicates that daily consumption of fish and seafood was quite rare, with Ontario at only 2.4 percent and British Columbia at 2.3 percent, as the only provinces reporting that food from the sea was part of their daily diet.

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Canadians seem to overwhelmingly prefer wild caught seafood over farmed, according to the research, particularly on the coasts. In B.C., 67.9 percent of respondents had a preference for wild seafood, followed by the Atlantic provinces at 54.2 percent, the Prairies at 49.7 percent, Ontario at 47.8 percent, and finally Quebec at 43.4 percent. Notably, Quebec was the only province where a higher percentage of the population expressed no preference for wild seafood, at 52.0 percent, the study indicated.

Sustainability

Despite preferring wild seafood, the majority of Canadians have the perspective that farmed seafood is more sustainable.

Income plays a significant role in the perception, with only 35.6 percent of respondents overall considering fish farming to be sustainable. Those with household incomes exceeding $150,000 showed the highest agreement that farmed fish are more sustainable, at 53.3 percent, followed by the $35,000–$74,999 bracket at 50.2 percent, and the $75,000–$149,000 bracket at 48.6 percent.

Some Canadians indicated they would pay more for certified sustainable seafood, about 40 percent, while 24.2 percent disagreed. Women were more likely to say they would pay more for certified sustainable seafood, with just under half agreeing, while only 32.6 percent of males agreed.

The study also found differences in cooking methods when it came to fish and other seafood. Younger Canadians, said the study, place a higher emphasis on preparation and cooking methods when deciding to buy seafood for home cooking. They include 56.9 percent of Millennials and 58.4 percent of Gen Z individuals.

Those from older generations are not as focused on cooking methods, including Gen X (47.6 percent), Boomers (45.7 percent), and the Greatest Generation (45.8 percent), the latter being those born in the 1900s through the 1920s and lived through the Great Depression.

Frozen fish or seafood is also a popular choice, with the study suggesting it is due to convenience. Nearly half of Gen Z respondents said they would choose frozen seafood, compared to only 31.9 percent of Gen X respondents.

“While fresh seafood remains popular, with 31.5% of Gen X preparing it at home, the percentage drops to 16.9% for Gen Z and 16.7% for the Greatest Generation,” said the report.