Issue: The safety of seafood trade is increasingly important to the United States for several reasons. U.S. per capita

fish consumption has increased over 50 percent since 1980.

More than three-fourths of total U.S. fish consumption

comes from imports. Although there is no evidence that

imported food is necessarily riskier, a number of the countries exporting seafood to the U.S. have poorer internal

control systems and/or are in tropical areas where toxin and

bacteria hazards are higher. Seafood safety and trade issues

are complex due to the diversity of harvest methods, production areas, markets, and seafood species involved.

Background: The United States is a major producer and

exporter of fish and fishery products. In 2001, the United

States imported roughly $6.8 billion more in edible seafood

than it exported, sourcing from a large number of countries.

In general, seafood trade with the United States is less

restricted than trade in other agricultural products, with the

vast majority of seafood products entering tariff free. 

Seafood is processed into a wide range of products and is

consumed in many forms (e.g., smoked, canned, salted,

dried, frozen, and raw). While thorough cooking destroys

most harmful pathogens, seafood safety hazards remain.

For example, raw oysters and clams have been linked to

illness from Vibrio vulnificus and other pathogens. 

A National Academy of Sciences report indicates that

most seafood sold in the United States is unlikely to cause

illness. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

reports that 6.8 percent of the 2,751 foodborne disease

outbreaks reported during 1993-97 were attributed to consumption of seafood. 

In addition to pathogens, other kinds of contamination can

affect both farm-raised and wild-caught seafood. Countries

vary in their use of vaccines, feed additives, and antibiotics for farm-raised fish and shellfish, and residues from

these production inputs sometimes cause food safety concerns. Wild-caught seafood may be affected by other kinds

of contamination such as histamines. 

Hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) systems have been implemented increasingly by private

industry for seafood, sometimes voluntarily and sometimes

as mandated by Federal governments. Investment in new

technologies and equipment and in identity preservation

systems is also improving seafood safety.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) detains

and inspects samples of imported seafood at the port of

entry, refuses adulterated shipments, inspects the facilities

of foreign processors who wish to export to the United

States, and inspects the facilities of seafood importers in

the United States. This study analyzed FDA detention data

for seafood products imported from 130 countries in 2001.

United States

Department of

Agriculture

Economic 

Research

Service

Issues in Diet, Safety, and Health / Agriculture Information Bulletin Number 789-7 February 2004

Seafood Safety and Trade

Jane Allshouse, allshous@ers.usda.gov, (202) 694-5449

Jean Buzby, jbuzby@ers.usda.gov, (202) 694-5370

David Harvey, djharvey@ers.usda.gov, (202) 694-5177

David Zorn (FDA)

Value of U.S. exports and imports of edible 

seafood, 1991-2001

$ billion

Source: National Marine Fisheries Service, 2002.

Exports

Imports

1991 93 95 97 99 2001

0

2

4

6

8

10

12
2 Economic Research Service / USDA

Seafood Safety and Trade / AIB-789-7

Findings: Salmonella is a potential target for risk reduction. FDA detention data showed that Salmonella was the

most common contaminant of fish and fishery products. Of

the 6,405 violations, 83.6 percent were for adulteration (as

opposed to misbranding), and Salmonella accounted for 34

percent of all adulteration violations. Adulteration deals

with safety, packaging integrity, or sanitation problems.

Most Salmonella contamination problems in seafood are

for shrimp. Almost one-quarter of all detentions, and

more than half of the violations for Salmonella, were for

shrimp and prawns (farm raised and wild caught), which

was expected because shrimp is by far the largest seafood

import item. Therefore, risk reduction efforts could be

focused here. With over one-quarter of shrimp production

from aquaculture, research is needed to determine if

improved sanitation during production could lessen the

occurrence and extent of Salmonella contamination. This

diligence will not solve all the problems because—unlike

meat and poultry, where Salmonella may be a naturally

occurring bacterium in the animals’ digestive tracts—

Salmonella contamination in shrimp is often due to crosscontamination later during processing. 

According to seafood experts, shrimp will continue to be

produced primarily by developing nations and to dominate

seafood trade from developing nations to developed nations

for the foreseeable future. Some research has found that

less developed countries often have difficulty meeting the

required quality and safety standards because of a lack of

sufficient funds to invest in quality control measures, adequately trained staff, and expensive equipment.

International seafood markets will continue to expand

and may become increasingly segmented. Continued

growth in international seafood markets may increase market segmentation. According to Wessells and Wallström,

wealthy countries demand seafood products with food

safety ensured, while less wealthy countries consume

seafood products with fewer safety assurances. The degree

of food safety could become, to some extent, a source of

product differentiation.

International disputes over seafood safety have affected

trade opportunities for producers, exporters, and importers.

Although some of these incidents have resulted in relatively short-term interruptions of trade and minor economic

impacts, medium- to long-term costs could continue to

accrue from continued market diversions (i.e., lost market

share), loss of momentum in the sector, decreased prices,

and reduced capacity due to temporary or permanent plant

closures. However, food safety problems are relatively

minor when considering the magnitude of trade. For

example, detention rates in terms of value were low, with

an average of 0.46 detention per $1 million of imports.

Information Sources:

For full text, see Allshouse, J., J. Buzby, D. Harvey, and

D. Zorn. “International Trade and Seafood Safety,” chapter

7 in International Trade and Food Safety: Economic

Theory and Case Studies. J. Buzby (ed.). USDA, Econ.

Res. Serv., AER-828, Nov. 2003. www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aer828/

Ahmed, F.E., Editor, Institute of Medicine. Seafood Safety.

National Academy Press: Washington DC, 1991.

Wessells, C.R., and P. Wallström. “New Dimensions in

World Fisheries: Implications for U.S. and E.C. Trade in

Seafood,” chapter 21 in Agricultural Trade Conflicts and

GATT: New Dimension in North American-European

Agricultural Trade Relations, G. Anania, C. Carter, and A.

McCalla (eds.). Boulder: Westview Press, 1994.

Share of FDA violations for Salmonella, by 

seafood product, 2001

Source: ERS calculations using 2001 FDA Import Detention Reports.

Shrimp & 

prawns—

58%

Lobster—5%

Milkfish—4%

Tilapia—4%

Oysters—3%

Squid—3%

Catfish—2%

Eel—2%

Other—19%

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