Unlike meat, which has a less-delicate shelf life, fish needs to be packaged very specifically so that it does not spoil. Therefore, a lot of money needs to be spent to replicate their natural environments to keep the fish and crustaceans alive, or money needs to be spent on high-tech refrigeration equipment that will maintain the shelf life of the fish that have already been caught and killed. If they come from the ocean, there is the added complication of keeping them in a tropical saltwater tank. It would be better to transport fish, crabs, and other seafood while they are still alive so that they will last longer, but that poses some challenges because the fish would need to be kept in specific temperature and pH-controlled environments. Wild seafood has a very short shelf life. The flavor of seafood changes drastically within 24 hours, so it is essential to get the seafood from point A to point B as fast as possible. Seafood spoils easier and is more likely to contain bacteria, so it is more challenging to keep it in good quality. The same supply, paired with ever-increasing demand, means that prices will rise exponentially. Globalization has also popularized the consumption of sushi, which of course, has also increased the demand for fish around the world.Įven though fish farming has increased, the supply of wild fish has decreased, so the overall supply has remained relatively consistent. This has encouraged more people to turn to seafood as their main protein source. The Mediterranean diet has become especially popular in recent years and was even voted as having the healthiest food choices. Some countries like Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Japan, Korea, and more have a huge emphasis on seafood as a focal point of their diet. In 1981, 9% of the world’s seafood supply was farm-raised.įor the past decade, farm-raised seafood has been the fastest-growing protein market, with an 8% growth rate each year.īy 2030, it is estimated that farm-raised fish will account for over 60% of the world’s seafood supply.
Roughly 60 million metric tons of seafood have been harvested for consumption since 1980. The average person now eats more than twice the amount of seafood compared to 50 years ago. Over the past 50 years, fish farming has more than quadrupled.Īt the same time, the world’s population has doubled, so the demand for fish has increased exponentially. The same cannot be said for wild seafood. It is the same for other types of land animals such as duck, pork, and geese. If the price of chickens rises, more can be easily hatched. On the other hand, if the demand for cattle increases, farmers can increase their supply by increasing cattle mating (though it may take a while). The supply is quickly dwindling due to overfishing and polluted waters.ĭemand highly outweighs supply when it comes to sea fishing, so the prices are high. The demand for seafood is high, especially for wild-caught fish because of population growth, health benefits, and sustainability concerns. Supply is less because it is harder to acquire the ingredients from the sea than on the land. Seafood is in high demand all over the world. Why Is Seafood So Expensive? (Top 10 Reasons) Keep reading to find out why seafood is so expensive and learn some ways to save money on your favorite protein in the future without sacrificing quality. The range of seafood prices varies greatly, depending on whether it is wild-caught or farm-raised, the distance to the coast, and the species of fish. However, due to the limited supply of fish and the dangers involved in wild fishing, the price of seafood is not going to decrease anytime soon. Seafood is one of the most expensive forms of protein on the market.