Opportunities and barriers for fisheries diversification: Consumer choice in New England

Diversification has been defined as one goal of sustainable fisheries. However, the role of consumer choice in successfully achieving this goal is unknown. We use a choice experiment survey to quantify consumer preferences for locally abundant and underutilized fish relative to more familiar and overfished species, as well as in the context of other common sustainability characteristics (locally sourced and eco-labeled fish). We find that while respondents valued local seafood and avoided seafood labeled as “unsustainable”, even well-informed consumers placed a high value on familiar species. However, consumers that had previously purchased underutilized fish were willing to pay significantly more for these species. These results demonstrate that fisheries diversification faces challenges, but that consumer preferences may be malleable, suggesting a long-term potential to shift demand away from unsustainable stocks and meet larger conservation goals, provided consumer education occurs. Ultimately, these efforts have the potential to increase both the ecological and economic sustainability of marine fisheries.