Japan Disaster Imperils Seafood Supply

Much of the coverage in the wake of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami has focused on the effects on the automotive and electronics markets. But there's another major Asian export that will also be in short supply for some time to come.

We're talking, of course, about seafood. Americans' taste for seafood has grown in recent years, with per capita consumption now around 16 pounds annually, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Japan exports roughly 35 percent of its annual seafood harvest, about $833 million worth, to the United States, the world's third-largest importer of seafood. China, the world's largest producer and consumer of seafood, is likely to take up some of the slack and higher prices can be expected to reduce demand somewhat.

The domestic U.S. seafood industry has been in something of a slump since Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and many consumers remain wary of eating farm-raised fish, so it's an open question where replacement supplies will come from.

Whatever happens in the short term, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says we'll all be eating more farm-raised fish by 2020, when 50 percent of the U.S. seafood supply will come from aquaculture. Presently, more than 70 percent of the seafood consumed in the
United States is imported, and at least 40 percent of that is farm-raised.

There used to be a lot of fish in the sea but the levels of many of the most prized specimens have lately fallen to dangerous levels. So it's possible that a pause in Japan's fishing activities will help Mother Nature regain her footing, even while her biped offspring suffer.