The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has produced statistics which show that the American diet contained 1.2% less fish and shellfish in 2007 compared to the previous year.

Shrimp remain top of the seafood of choice list in the US with the average per capita consumption of 4.1 pounds, while canned seafood, mainly tuna, held steady at 3.pounds per person.

The greatest drop has been in the intake of fresh or frozen finfish, down from 12.3 pounds in 2006 to 12.1 pounds in 2007.

Other findings in the report highlight that Dutch Harbour, Unalaska, Alaska remains the nations busiest fishing port for the 19th year with landing totalling 777.2 million pounds of fish - down 911.3 million on the 2006 figure.

Top as far as value of landings is concerned is New Bedford in Massachusetts with landings worth $268 million in 2007. This total mainly comes from the value of sea scallops.

The US imports around 84 per cent of its seafood with this figure steadily increasing - the import volume has increased from 63 per cent a decade ago, with at least 50 per cent of the seafood imported annually coming from aquaculture.

US-based aquaculture meets only 5-7 per cent of demand - and most of that catfish. Salmon, farmed oysters, clams and mussels account for only 1.5 per cent.

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