Abstract:
Fish and shellfish are mainly considered seafood; are the best source of
protein and have distinct flavours and aromas. Seafood consumption patterns of Sri
Lankans mainly depend on socioeconomic conditions, health status, food habits and
consumer attitudes. Marine pollution is one of the biggest threats to the seafood
industry and its consumption pattern. This work was carried out to determine the
factors that influence on seafood consumption patterns of Sri Lankan. The 700
respondents were collected from all the 25 districts of the country through the
structured online questionnaire after three months of disaster. The highest preference
was represented by the tuna fish species and the lowest was given to the bivalve and
seaweeds at 43.2% and 0.41% respectively. The higher nutritional quality, and unique
organoleptic characteristics were identified as the major reasons for consumption. Sea
pollution was significantly influencing the seafood consumption pattern changes in Sri
Lankans, and there was a significant relationship between consumer awareness of sea
pollution and socioeconomic factors including age, gender, region, educational status
and occupation (p<0.05, chi-square test). It was revealed as the X-press pearl ship
disaster significantly (p<0.05, chi-square test) impacted the reducing the seafood
consumption pattern of Sri Lankans and its varied with the socioeconomic factors.
However, the consumption of freshwater food fish species has significantly increased.
Also, sea pollution has negatively impacted brackish-water food species’ consumption
and survival. It indicated the requirement and implementation of stronger legislation
policies for preventing the occurrence of sea pollution, ensuring the survival of marine
and brackish-water species and production of hazardous-free seafood products.
