Fish Consumption in the Age of the Information Society - The Evolution of the Fish Sector in Portugal

Abstract Portuguese consumers are an example to the world when it comes to eating fish. It is a fact that Portugal is EU’s top nation consuming fish, and that the country ranks 3 rd in the world in that category. It is something to be proud of. Especially when so many countries are investing millions on/and implementing fish campaigns, in the attempt to increase the consumption of fish. Therefore, this article attempt to highlight some major aspects of fish consumption in Portugal, explaining how, where, and when fish is consumed. To be able to characterize the Portuguese fish consumer, this article had exclusive access to data from Docapesca Portos e Lotas S.A’s data (a government owned company, under the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Sea). Two surveys were conducted (each with 1000 respondents - representative of general of the Portuguese population), one in 2017 and the other one in 2018, using plenty of variables that turned out to be extremely valuable data to market analyses and allowed a very strong comparative analysis. Results include the big impact of Information in the different channels of fish consumption, perceived value of fish, consumers’ evaluation of the advantages of fish, expectation when consuming fish, and also the importance of consumer education (as a means to promote change in behavior, if wanted). By providing evidence from Portuguese fish consumption in two different years, this study offers valuable insights for both practitioners and researchers.