The Problem With Seafood Isn’t the Science — It’s the Story We Tell About It

How headlines, habit friction, and outdated narratives shape what ends up on our plates

Few would argue that fish and seafood are among the most nutrient-dense foods available. Fish and seafood frequently appear in conversations about healthspan and longevity. Think, the Mediterranean diets and Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones. Some seafood items have even been touted as superfoods.

Seafood delivers the “it” nutrients people care about most: protein and omega-3s.
It also provides vitamin B12, vitamin D, iodine, and selenium—nutrients that are harder to find in land-based proteins.

For individuals focused on fitness, performance and overall health, it’s ideal for building and maintaining muscle, supporting heart health and supporting nervous system function.

Canadian Context

In 2023, Canada produced 825,048 metric tonnes of seafood (Canada’s Fisheries Fast Facts 2024, Fisheries and Oceans Canada). We have the longest coastline, the fourth-largest ocean territory (including some of the world’s most productive waters) and the largest share of the Arctic Ocean.

Where do we rank, then, among countries that consume the most seafood? Number 66! In 2023, consumption of all fish and seafood in Canada was 20.82 kg/capita (Fish Consumption by Country 2026, World Population Review).

With a body of evidence about the nutritional benefits of seafood, even health-conscious, fitness-minded people hesitate to eat it regularly. Why? Because seafood triggers uncertainty in ways chicken, beef or plant proteins rarely do.

I believe seafood consumption suffers not from a lack of evidence, but from a surplus of poorly framed information. People don’t avoid seafood because it’s unhealthy. They avoid it because they’re unsure.

In his well-known book, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, James Clear writes, “Much of the battle of building better habits comes down to finding ways to reduce the friction associated with our good habits and increase the friction associated with our bad ones.“

Seafood hesitation is rarely a single issue—it’s a combination of factors that create friction and decision fatigue.

Friction in My Kitchen

For me, choosing fish and seafood is already fraught with friction.

My family doesn’t eat seafood with any regularity or showcase diversity—leaning mainly towards salmon, shrimp, and whitefish. Our weekly meal planning typically begins with the grocery list from the week before—building on a core set of recipes we can count on.

Integrating more seafood means searching for new recipes (friction) and the fear of wasting food on a failed dish (friction). We also like to meal-prep our weekday lunches for work and school, but with fish and shellfish considered priority food allergens by Health Canada, this limits us to fewer meals where we can include seafood (friction).

To me, these are practical problems: everyday barriers rooted in logistics, habits and risk aversion rather than deep ideological or knowledge gaps. They’re solvable with low-to-medium effort. Sure, these problems contribute to lower seafood consumption among Canadians, but that’s not the root of it.

Headline Havoc

You’ve seen the headlines: “Nationwide Fish Mislabeling Poses Health Risk,” “Wild-caught or farmed? The diner’s dilemma,” “Researchers Discover Concerning Threat Lurking in Seafood: ‘Source of Contamination’.”

They are hooks, I know, but they are effective and memorable. They are fear-based and sensational. In a time when most of us don’t read past the headline, even when there is a body of balanced evidence in an article, a definitive headline can be a lasting take-away.

These headlines scratch away at our trust in all seafood. They plant seeds of doubt that lingers This is what stops so many of us from embracing seafood.

An Inside-Out Perspective

My views on this come from someone who has had the chance to peek behind the curtain, backstage, having worked in the fish and seafood sector for many years.

What has shaped my thinking most is not a distrust of journalism, but an awareness of how information persists long after its context has changed. Over the years, I’ve repeatedly seen outdated or narrowly scoped studies resurface in headlines as if they were new. They are framed with alarm but fall short of providing a depth of context or balance of information. The reader is left with a distorted sense of risk. Risk in the context of food results in avoidance.

Outdated Research Lives On

This fear of lingering misinformation isn’t hypothetical—it’s accelerating with AI. A recent study in JMIR AI, “The Dual Nature of AI in Information Dissemination: Ethical Considerations,” tested large language models on factual queries, finding they frequently regurgitate outdated research as current truth, even when fresher data exists.

Currently studying Digital Communications in the Age of AI, I tested a prompt with an AI about “PCBs in salmon,” and the top three references it pulled were from 2020, 2013, with the third citing research from 2001—yes, 25 years ago. Until AI focuses fluency over facts It will, at a minimum, create greater uncertainty around seafood and, at worst, fuel more fear.

Trust as the Starting Point

There are baseline expectations that we have for the food we eat. It must be safe for us and our families. It must be produced under trusted regulations. If animals are involved, it must be produced in a way that treats them ethically. Finally, there must be neutral or no impact on the planet.

Research shows that Canadians are confident that the food system ensures the safety of the food they eat and that they can count on government inspection and regulation in this regard.

This baseline of trust is why we don’t hesitate to toss a head of broccoli in our shopping cart or waver over bringing home a block of tofu. So, go ahead, put a piece of fish in your cart alongside that broccoli.

Choosing What Matters to You

If you are fortunate enough to have food security, you have choices: local, organic, free-range, high-protein, fresh, high in omega-3s. Some of these factors will resonate with you more than others. Some may carry no weight in your buying journey.

If fish and seafood align with your dietary interests, don’t stop at the headlines. Define what is important to you and do a deeper read. Spoiler: There will be no “perfect” option. Just as the eggs labeled high in omega-3s for your ultimate protein omelette may not have been grown locally, the halibut for Taco Tuesday may only be available from the freezer section in July.

Confidence Over Confusion

I am on a journey to embrace more seafood in my diet. The health promises are too high not to try. I’ll let things like price, flavour profile and ease of preparation guide my decisions, but I won’t be deterred by headlines.

Generative AI tools (ChatGPT-5.2. and Perplexity) were used in the planning and final review of this blog post.