Demand Analysis of Fresh and Frozen Finfish and Shellfish in the United States

Household expenditures for at-home consumption on three species of shellfish and five species of finfish were analyzed. Factors explaining the variation of expenditures on seafood commodities were own price, household income, coupon value, household size, geographic region, urbanization, race, and seasonality. Own-price elasticities ranged from-0.45 (flounder/sole) to-1.13 (oysters). Expenditures on fishery products were more sensitive to changes in household size than to changes in household income. Cross-price effects of red meat and poultry were not statistically significant. For comparison purposes, estimates of own-price, income, and household size elasticities from the literature were made with this set of elasticities. Key words: demand analysis, elasticities, Heckman procedure, seafood. The consumption of seafood in the United States expanded steadily in recent decades. From 1960 to 1985, the annual per capita con sumption of fish and shellfish in terms of edible meat weight trended gradually upward fro