New research into seafood consumption and production in Brazil highlights how one of the world's most populous countries could build healthier and more sustainable food systems by encouraging people to eat more seafood, developing sustainable and nutritionally diverse aquaculture, and better managing fisheries.
To assess seafood consumption in Brazil, a multidisciplinary team of researchers including Juan Pablo Quimbayo , an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences , and postdoctoral researcher Luiza Waechter analyzed food consumption survey data from 30,700 people. They also looked at fishery statistics and information on the nutritional content of different types of seafood. Their goal was to determine how much seafood Brazilians currently eat, what nutrients it provides, and whether the available seafood supply could help improve public health in a country where an estimated 10.6 million people are undernourished and 33 million face food insecurity.
Their findings, published in the journal Nature Food , show that average seafood consumption in Brazil is less than half the recommended level, and that deficiencies in nutrients found in seafood—such as vitamin A, magnesium, and calcium—are widespread.
"What's very surprising is that in Brazil, people don't consume a lot of seafood" despite the country's extensive coastline, said Quimbayo, an ecologist who runs the University's BioScales Lab . "But increasing seafood consumption cannot simply mean catching more fish. Many fisheries are already under pressure, so improving nutrition has to go hand in hand with sustainable fisheries management."
A Brazilian fisherman holds his catch. Photo: Ronaldo Francini-Filho
The researchers found that Brazilians could reduce nutritional deficiencies by increasing seafood consumption from six percent to 25 percent of their total protein intake. Seafood, the researchers point out, is a low-cost and nutritionally diverse source of protein that has a relatively low environmental cost compared to beef and other types of animal protein.
"Seafood is highly diverse, both taxonomically and nutritionally, which means that different species can provide different combinations of nutrients," explained Waechter, who is Brazilian. "That means we can have a more flexible diet. We can change our diet to have different nutrients, and then we don't need to focus on just one specific source or specific species."
Lower than recommended seafood consumption isn't the only problem the researchers uncovered. They also found that demand for seafood exceeds supply in several Brazilian states.
Rather than proposing that Brazilians catch more wild fish, however, the researchers posit that farming seafood through aquaculture could help meet an increased demand without impacting wild fish populations. They also argue that decisions about which species to catch or farm should be based in part on their nutritional value, in addition to how many fish can be harvested.
"One of the important findings is that this is not simply a question of getting enough protein," Quimbayo said. "Brazilians already meet protein recommendations on average, yet their diets still fall short for several essential micronutrients. What people eat, and the nutritional quality of those foods, matters as much as how much protein they consume."
The researchers acknowledged that a cultural preference for chicken, beef, and pork in some regions of Brazil may be hard to change, however.
The impacts of this research extend beyond Brazil. The study highlights how preserving biodiversity is important not just for environmental protection but also for public health, since biodiversity impacts the variety of nutrients available in food.
"It is easy to think about fisheries only in terms of their immediate value—you catch a fish and generate food or income," Quimbayo said. "But we also need to ask what will be available for the next generation. If we protect the ecosystems that sustain fisheries, including coral reefs, mangroves, and other coastal habitats, we can help ensure that future generations continue to have access to both food and biodiversity."
