In two years, the average consumption of fish in Brazil increased about 30%, going from 6.8 (15 lbs) to 8 kilograms (18 lbs) per capita per year. This Wednesday, September 14, the Brazilian Minister of the Special Secretariat of Aquiculture and Fishery (Seap), José Fritsch, launched the 3rd Week of the Fish, which aims at stimulating fish consumption in the country.
Fritsch stated that little by little fish is becoming more popular in Brazil. He mentioned as an example what takes place throughout the Amazon Basin. “Consumption in the Amazon is above 60 kilograms of fish per person per year,” he said.
According to the Minister, other regions in the country show a consumption considered good by the secretariat.
“In the Pantanal Basin (Midwest region of Brazil) there is also a great quantity consumed,” he observed.
He also recalled the same profile in the coastal areas and near the seaside, “where almost all fishery communities and small cities consume mainly fish.”
As in Fritsch’s report, the states where consumption is still not considered significant are Goiás (Midwest), Paraná (South), São Paulo (Southeast), interior of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul (South region of Brazil), as well as the Federal District, in the Midwest, where the capital city Brasilia is located.
The Minister explained that the secretariat is motivating factories and meatpacking plants to adopt a new strategy that contributes to a change in habit, so that the population starts consuming also frozen fish.
ABr