householders seafood preferences and consumption. Away-from-home consumption was not sought for household
members, because even the primary meal preparer would not have adequate knowledge of what had been consumed
during the previous week by householders other than pre-schoolers. It is quite likely that school aged children and older
members of the household could have eaten seafood in cafeterias or other food service establishments without the
knowledge of the primary meal preparer.

Portion sizes were solicited in the form of multiples and/or fractions of bread slices for finfish. Portion sizes for shellfish
items were based upon counts and known industry size standards whenever possible. In addition to obtaining recall data
from randomly selected adults, at-home intake data for finfish and shellfish were sought for all members of households
contacted. Information on seafood intake for all householders except for the randomly selected adult was provided by
the primary meal preparer.

Interviews were conducted on a constant quota basis throughout a 52 week period beginning March 15, 1993 and ending
March 13, 1994. Approximately 168 interviews were conducted each week during this period. The year-long
interviewing period was used to minimize bias that could arise from seasonal variation in the consumption of specific
types of seafood caused by species availability or seasonal consumption habits. Interviewing quotas for individual
counties were not randomized, but set so that interviews would be distributed throughout the weeks of the year on a
constant basis, if permitted by the total number of interviews. For counties with small numbers of interviews, quotas
were arranged so that interviews were distributed equally across the four seasons of the year, if possible.


 Rationale for this Study

Results of this study revealed that Floridians, on the average, consume two to three times as much seafood as the average
U.S. consumer. Average consumption figures for a one-week recall period were reported for all population samples
by individual seafood species and by selected seafood categories such as finfish/shellfish, freshwater/saltwater, etc.
Average consumption figures were also calculated for selected socio-demographic categories of the various population
samples. For example, mean consumption estimates of specific types of seafood were calculated for various ethnic
groups, age, income and education categories, and by gender. In addition to mean consumption estimates, standard
deviations were reported along with annualized estimates of consumption for all categories of respondents and species
of finfish and shellfish. Results were published in FAMRC Industry Report 94-2, "Per Capita Fish and Shellfish
Consumption in Florida."

Although the published findings provide an unprecedented level of detail with respect to seafood consumption by
Floridians, additional detail is required to refine judgements on human health risks. This research provides the
additional statistical detail required by toxicologists, risk assessors, epidemiologists and others.