The objective of this paper is to examine the consumption rates of native and non-native (expatriate) residents in the Jeddah coastal region of Saudi Arabia. Because of oil development in the region, there is a massive influx of expatriates (Feidi, 1998). Hence, it was important to understand whether consumption patterns differ for native versus non-native residents. While our overall goal was to determine whether people are at risk from consuming fish from markets or from fish collected from the coastal waters surrounding Jeddah, the first step was to examine consumption rates, and we do so in this paper.
York and Gossard (2004) reported that after controlling for other factors, fish consumption rates in the Middle East and Africa were not significantly different from those in the West (defined to include the Americas, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand), and the effect of economic development on fish consumption tends to be the same for all non-Asian nations. In the Arab region, Feidi (1998) noted that fish consumption rates were highest in coastal states where fish is relatively abundant and human population is low; fish formed a major part of the national diet. However, the consumption rates were lower in inland Arab states as a result of low production levels, high human populations, and limited fish importation capability due to hard currency shortages. However, such studies are not available for Saudi Arabia at the regional level. The present study provides information on consumption for Saudi Arabians and expatriates living in the Jeddah region. Overall, the present study was part of study consisting of four parts: 1) fish consumption survey, 2) collection and contaminant analysis of popularly eaten fish, 3) risk evaluations and risk assessments, and 4) recommendations for fish consumption advisories and management of any potential risk to people from seafood in the coastal Jeddah area. Only fish consumption pattern will be examined in this paper.