Introduction and objectives
The SmartAqua4FuturE (SAFE) project is researching circular bioeconomy innovations to improve the sustainability of European freshwater aquaculture. Consumer perceptions and purchasing behaviours are an important driver for, or barrier to, the adoption of these innovations. An online survey was therefore designed to provide some assessment of consumer attitudes to fish consumption across Europe. This was followed by a series of focus groups to provide greater insights into consumer perceptions and priorities.
Approach and methods
Mentimeter.com was used for the online survey platform due to the modern graphical interface this provided for participants. Six language versions were made available (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Finnish and Swedish) based on the SAFE project partner countries. The questions covered participant demographics, fish consumption habits over the previous month, perceptions of aquaculture practices and attitudes towards different circular bioeconomy technologies and potential policy measures to improve sustainability. As no budget was allocated for this activity it was not possible to implement a representative sampling frame for such a large potential population. Recruitment was therefore self-selecting based on promotion through numerous social media channels, initially in July 2025 with a further smaller round in January 2026. The results of the online survey were then analysed and used to inform a series of focus groups held in the partner countries during May and June 2026. These involved different demographic groups, but all consumers of fish and not directly involved in the seafood sector.
Surevey results
A total of 592 responses were received in the online survey with an average 93% completion rate excluding the two final open-answer questions. In terms of demographics, 29% of respondents were from Southern Europe, 26% from Western Europe, 20% from Nordic countries, 9% from Eastern Europe, 12% from unidentified European countries and 4% from elsewhere. All adult age ranges were represented with a broadly normal distribution aound middle-age. 95% of respondents were at least occasional fish eaters of which 81% were regular fish eaters. The average consumer recorded 14 fish purchases over the previous month led by salmon, seabass or seabream (average almost three times per month) with freshwater fish purchased on average once per month. In terms of sustainability, the respondents scored aquaculture produced fish above all other animal proteins and pond fish above tank-reared fish which in turn scored above cage-reared fish. This scoring appeared to be influenced by sources of information available to the respondents. All aquaculture systems were perceived more favourably by respondents who obtained their information from colleagues or formal education and less favourably by those who relied on friends, mainstream, and particularly social media. Local production and production systems which appeared more "natural" were favoured with the recycling of byproducts into feed ingredients less so. Policy measures aimed at supporting greater sustainability that were likely to increase price to consumers were viewed much less positively by consumers who already considered seafood to be expensive or unaffordable than those who considered it to be affordable.
Focus group results
<<The focus group work is in progress so this section will be updated as soon as that is complete>>
Discussion
The results suggest that aquaculture practices that appear closer to "natural" production are favoured by consumers, but tempered by their budget and hence willingness to pay a premium for this. <Add insight from focus groups and relate project findings to those of European Commission (2025)>
Acknowledgment
The SmartAqua4FuturE project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe programme under grant agreement no. 101084549. The University of Stirling 's contribution is funded by Innovate UK through the Horizon Europe Guarantee Fund.
References
European Commission (2025). EU consumer habits regarding fishery and aquaculture products: Eurobarometer report (No. SP558). Publications Office of the European Union. https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/3213