A literature review about consumer perception of farmed fish: can we improve it?

Wild fish is still a reference for consumers, representing 72% of the EU’s apparent per capita consumption of fishery products. Only 7% of European consumers report to prefer farmed products. Thus, a literature review was performed to investigate this matter. Following the PRISMA approach and using the query “aquaculture AND fish AND consumer”. 1067 records were retrieved from SCOPUS and 970 from Web of Science. Up to 694 duplicates were excluded, using the Endnote (v20.5; Clarivate, United Kingdom) software. Reports without an available full text, not in English, irrelevant to the research and reviews were excluded, resulting in a total of 134 papers selected for analysis. The reviewed papers highlight a consumer preference for wild fish. Consumers believe that farmed fish contain harmful chemicals and are “unnatural”. Wild fish is perceived as having better quality, despite blind sensory trials showing otherwise. This idea is further strengthened by its perceived higher price. Fisheries are seen as eco-friendlier and promoting better fish welfare. The low objective and subjective knowledge of consumers regarding aquaculture also stood out. Moreover, consumers tend to value domestic products. A growing interest in organic production and sustainable fish products has been observed. Therefore, it is proposed, for the improvement of aquaculture perception: first, aquacultures must minimize the use of harmful chemicals and assure consumers of that; second, there should be a focus on eco-friendly farming processes;third, each region should promote their domestic aquaculture products; finally, clear information regarding aquaculture benefits should be disseminated to increase consumers’ knowledge.