A country’s seafood sustainability is often defined by how it manages fisheries stocks. However, growth in the volume and complexity of global seafood trade has created an increasing disconnect between the sustainability of a country’s seafood production and their seafood consumption. In this study we explore differences between country-specific sustainability of produced versus consumed seafood, finding that some of the most sustainable producers (e.g. the United States) are simultaneously consumers of some of the least sustainable seafood as a result of trade. This study highlights the fact that addressing the widening gap between the sustainability of seafood production and consumption demands tracing programs that can track products across the increasingly complex chains of custody leading to the tables of consumers.

This study is currently being prepared for publication.