Per Capita Fish Consumption and the Factors Affecting It in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran

Despite the important role of fish consumption in providing the needed protein by the body and health of people and the existence of many benefits in their production, the consumption of seafood in the country is low. So, this study was conducted to investigate the rate and factors affecting the per capita consumption of fish in West Azerbaijan province (urban and rural areas). The present applied study is non-experimental in terms of controlling variables and in terms of data collection method was a survey. The statistical population of this study included all urban and rural households in West Azarbaijan province. The sample size was determined based on the Cochrane 2096 formula and with proportional assignment, 1440 people in urban areas and 657 people in rural areas were selected as the sample. The main research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire which its validity was confirmed using a panel of experts. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was also used for the reliability of the measuring instrument, which was at an acceptable level. In the present study, the results were presented in two parts, descriptive and inferential, using SPSS18 software. The results showed that the average per capita fish consumption in urban areas was 7.60 kg per year and in rural areas was 7.48 kg. Regarding the per capita consumption, it shows that the highest amount belongs to Urmia city equal to 8.94 kg per year and the lowest was in Naghadeh city with 6.21 kg per year. The results of the study of factors affecting fish consumption using multiple regressions showed that the variables of price, awareness and fish diversity have the greatest impact on consumption in West Azerbaijan province and according to the R2; these variables totally explained 37% of the dependent variable.