Seafood Purchasing Options

In 2021, the Scottish Government commissioned research on Ocean Literacy. This took the form of a questionnaire with 3,055 members of the public taking part. The full document can be found following this link. The data from this document is at a national scale.

This questionnaire was undertaken by giving five statements with people asked if this statement was true for their behaviour (Fig. 1).

When asked what would influence the seafood they purchased, 74% of respondents stated information on whether a fish is endangered or overfished would affect their choices. Out of the five options presented on the potential information that could be available to customers on the seafood product, the majority of respondents would be influenced by four of the options. The 'least popular' option of receiving information about carbon emissions related to the seafood product still showed that 45% of respondents would be influenced by carbon emissions information. 

Overall this does show the importance of clear labeling and fact-checking when it comes to fish products. It also showed a potential high level of support for schemes that check standards are being met, such as the Marine Stewardship Scheme.