One out of four Americans experiences a foodborne illness each year. Of those, 325,000 are hospitalized and 5,000 die. Seafood products cause approximately 18 percent to 20 percent of the known outbreaks of foodborne illnesses each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Today, Americans eat nearly 16 pounds of seafood per person per year — almost 30 percent more seafood per person than they ate 25 years ago.

More people eating more seafood yielded a 70 percent — or two billion pound — increase in overall seafood consumption. That equals the weight of about 270,000 Hummer H2 sport utility vehicles.

But Americans are largely unaware of the health concerns associated with imported seafood, more and more of which is produced on industrial style farms. The crowded, unsanitary conditions on these industrial fish farms breed bacteria, viruses, and parasites, forcing producers to use antibiotics and chemicals to prevent disease outbreaks.

Food & Water Watch is working to ensure Americans have safe seafood by encouraging the U.S. government to inspect food imports and to ensure consumers know where their seafood originates.

The BP Oil Spill & Gulf Seafood

The massive oil spill resulting from the blowout of BP’s Deepwater Horizon has been devastating not only to the marine, coastal and wetland habitats of the Gulf of Mexico, but also to one of the United States’ most productive fishing communities. With decreasing amounts of seafood coming from the Gulf for an indefinite period of time, this disaster could have a large impact on the U.S. seafood supply.

Learn More

Fact Sheet: U.S. Seafood and the BP Gulf Disaster

Issue Brief: A Year After the Spill: The Consequences of COREXIT