FILE - In this March 25, 2020, file photo, a worker weighs and sorts pollack at the Portland Fish Exchange in Portland, Maine. The coronavirus pandemic has hurt the U.S. seafood industry due to a precipitous fall in imports and exports and a drop in catch of some species. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
Virus Outbreak Seafood Industry
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic has hurt the US seafood industry due to a precipitous fall in imports and exports and a drop in catch of some species.
Those are the findings of a group of scientists who sought to quantify the damage of the pandemic on America’s seafood business. The group also found that the industry suffered in part because of its reliance on restaurant sales.
They found that consumer demand for seafood at restaurants dropped by more than 70% during the early months of the pandemic.
The scientists published their findings recently in the scientific journal Fish and Fisheries.
