A Survey on Seafood Consumption and Consumer Preference in İzmir Province

Abstract

Seafood are important in human nutrition due to being healthy and valuable proteins resources. Despite serious problems in balanced nutrition found in Turkey, seafood are not consumed sufficiently. In our country, it is necessary to review this situation regarding the consumption of fisheries and to produce solutions by considering the reasons. In this study, the consumption preference of seafood was analyzed in İzmir province, where the fishing and aquaculture production and consumption are made as common. The study was carried out as a questionnaire application to 700 individuals randomly selected in different districts in July 2012. It was determined that 33.8% of the respondents consumes white meat, 19.6% consumes red meat and 8.8% consumes fish. The most consumed fishes by the participants were observed as 40.4% sea bream, 34.2% sea bass, 32.4% horse mackerel, 31.8% anchovy, and 30.4% sardines, respectively. It was determined that 90.4% of the participants consume the fish freshly. As consumption style, frying (51.6%) and grilling (33%) was determined as major preferences. In the study, it was determined that the participants consume an average of 15 kg of fish per year.