Fish consumption among the population of the Republic of Moldova

Very little is currently known about the consumption of different fish species at the national level. Elucidation of this subject would be useful for assessing the risk of exposure of the population to methyl mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins and assessing nutritional benefi ts such as protein, amino acids, fats, vitamins, minerals, phosphorus, iodine intake. This is a descriptive study, with the application of the indirect method of data collection. The identifi cation of fi sh species and the quantifi cation of consumption at national level was performed using FishStatJ v4.00.9 soft ware. Data per species (annual series) for the period 2005-2017, tons per year, were converted into grams per day per capita. The inedible component was excluded by applying conversion factors. During the analyzed period, 26 species of fish were consumed. The application of conversion factors decreased the average consumption by 34.7% in relation to gross amount. In the period 2005-2017 there was a trend of increasing fish consumption from 17.8 g/day (2005) to 23.6 g/day (2017). On average per capita was consumed 19.68 g/day, 97.3% out of the average consumption are: herring/sardines – 6.46 g/day (32.8%), carp – 4.14 g/day (21.0%), unspecifi ed species – 3.09 g/day (15.7%), mackerel – 1.61 g/day (8.17%), hake – 1.10 g/day (5.6%), putasu – 0.953 g/day (4.84%), salmon – 0.824 g/day (4.19%), cod – 0.745 g/day (3.78%), polack – 0.22 g/ day (1.14%), tuna – 0.09 g/day (0.47%). Fish consumption for the period 2005-2017 has a continuous growth trend. The population of the Republic of Moldova consumes 26 diff erent fi sh species, the most consumed are herring/sardines and carp with a share of 32.8% and 21.0% respectively. However, 15.7% remains uncertain due to non-identifi cation of species.