Fish plays a key role in human consumption in terms of protein,
mineral, and essential fatty acid contents. Unfortunately, despite its
importance for the human health, there is lack interest on the fish consumption
in Turkey. In this context, this paper aimed to determine the fish consumption
habits in Çanakkale. It is estimated that fish consumption could be higher in
the locations along the coasts of marine and inland waters. Therefore,
consumers living in all districts of the city were surveyed to test this
hypothesis. The questionnaire was carried out to provide an insight into the
fish consumption habits of randomly selected 1056 consumers in Çanakkale.
Socio-economic and demographic structures such as age, gender, educational
status, profession, income level of the consumers were determined. Responses of
the consumers were arranged and analysed by using SPSS and MS-Excel software.
Moreover, fish consumption amount, consumption frequency, preferred fish
species, most consumed fish species were also determined. The results give an
excellent snapshot of fish consumption habits in Çanakkale. Both the most
consumed and the most favourite fish species are identified as Sarda sarda.
Fish consumption frequency was described as 33.3% (352 individuals) for consuming
fish one a week followed by bimonthly frequency (21.9%, 231 individuals) and
monthly frequency (21.5%, 227 individuals). 2.3% (24 individuals) of the
participants noted that they never consume fish. Moreover, the majority of
consumers specified that they consume fish 1-2 kg (39.0%, 312 individuals) and
27.3% (288 individuals) consume fish 0.5-1 kg. Socio-economic and demographic
characteristics of consumers are affecting the fish consumption habits. In the
present study, season, income level, and freshness of fish are found to be
driving force for fish consumption in Çanakkale. Therefore, fish farmers and
sellers are recommended to remain the freshness of fish and to follow the
appropriate fishing season for providing fish to consumers.
Fish consumption Consumption habits Socio-economic structure Demographic characteristics Questionnaire
This paper includes a part of M.Sc. thesis of Fahri Saka. Authors would also like to thank Semih Kale for his contributions and supports during the study.
Primary Language | English |
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Subjects | Fisheries Management |
Journal Section | Research Article |
Authors | |
Publication Date | June 30, 2020 |
Submission Date | December 11, 2019 |
Acceptance Date | January 10, 2020 |
Published in Issue | Year 2020 |