* of Wt«l 



U.S. coniuoptloa 



D 



i or wtBi 



'-■.S. jicpulattoi 



i 



I U.S. «on*uBptloci 



D 



i of total 

 U.S. popuiMtlOD 



i 



I 



i 



§ 



^ 





i 



t^ I t^ I K3 



_h£<; LJisl I H^ l_tii 



Central Mountoln P«ctflc 



Figure 2. — Regional distribution of total finfish con- 

 sumption (at home) and population, 1969. Source: 

 Appendix 2. 



Figure 4. — Regional distribution of oyster consumption 

 (at home) and population, 1969. Source: Appendix 2. 



I 





1 * Qf total 



j U.S. <;onBUBptlon 



1 



1 



D 



« of total 



U.S. populatlM 



r 



r 



i 





i 



I 



1 



A-.:a^.;!r >n-r5l 



Figure 3. — Distribution of total shellfish and finfish con- 

 sumption (at home) and population, 1969. Source: 

 Appendix 2. 



tion. (Where the bars indicate a higher per- 

 centage of consumption than of population, per 

 capita consumption would be above the national 

 average and vice versa.) A clearer picture of 

 regional consumption patterns, however, is pro- 

 vided in similar examinations of individual 

 species, which are discussed below. 



Oysters 



The survey found oysters to be heavily fa- 

 vored in Southern States, particularly the South 

 Atlantic area which stretches from Maryland 

 south, along the Atlantic Coast (Figure 4) . The 

 South Atlantic region ranks fourth in popu- 

 lation, but is the leader in at-home oyster con- 

 sumption with 29% of the total. Per capita 

 consumption of oysters in the South Atlantic 



is nearly double the national average. The 

 South Central and Mountain States comprise 

 the only other regions that exceed national 

 averages in per capita oyster consumption. 



In total oyster consumption, the populous 

 East North Central region ranked second in 

 the survey. The area, which encompasses just 

 under 20% of the U.S. population, consumed 

 14% of the oyster total during the survey per- 

 iod. Pacific States ranked third in total oyster 

 consumption, just as they do in population. 

 Results from the Middle Atlantic States were 

 somewhat surprising. The area ranks a close 

 second in population and accounts for 18.5% 

 of the Nation's total. In oyster consumption, 

 however, the area's rank appears to be fifth 

 among the nine U.S. regions. Middle Atlantic 

 residents consumed 10.2% of the total meas- 

 ured in the survey, which puts their per capita 

 consumption of oysters only slightly above half 

 the U.S. average. 



The regional pattern of oyster consumption 

 shows that, generally, areas with the highest 

 rates of per capita consumption are also the 

 major oyster producing areas. In aggregate, 

 these areas account for over 60% of the total 

 oysters consumed at home. Moreover, these 

 areas consume about 84 '^< of their total pro- 

 duction. This pattern likely has evolved from 

 a combination of cultural and technological 

 influences. Tradition obviously is an important 

 factor in the high localized rates of oyster con- 

 sumption. Technological factors, however, may 

 be even more important. Oysters are i^referred 

 in a "fresh" form, but their perishability re- 



