The true price of fatty fish: Health effects and environmental externalities in the production and consumption of wild-caught and cultivated fatty fish in the Netherlands

The market price of fatty fish does not currently reflect their full societal impact, as it excludes both the health benefits of consumption and the environmental costs associated with its production. This study offers a unique application of true pricing by internalising these hidden costs in the Dutch context. Data on the consumption of 21 generic wild and cultivated fatty fish products were obtained from the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey (DNFCS) 2019–2021. Health costs of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke were estimated using the cost-of-illness (COI) approach, and the Population Attributable Fraction (PAF) was applied to determine the proportion of disease incidence attributable to insufficient fatty fish consumption. Environmental impacts, including global warming, terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, marine eutrophication, land use, and water use were assessed using the Dutch Life Cycle Assessment Food Database and monetised with Dutch environmental unit prices. The true price was estimated by adjusting retail prices to account for health and environmental impacts. The estimated health-related discount was EUR 1.50 per kilogram of fatty fish. Environmental premiums vary by species and fishery type (EUR 0.22–3.76), with the highest for cultivated salmon and the lowest for mackerel. The difference between true prices and market prices ranges from −18.1 % to +12.4 %. The results suggest that eel and cultivated salmon are priced below their true societal costs, whereas small pelagic species are priced above them. True pricing can support sustainable food systems by making low-impact seafood more accessible and discouraging overconsumption of high-impact species.