Evaluation of Seafood Product Concepts by Young Adults and Families with Young Children from Denmark,Norway, and Iceland

This article describes the results of a study that tested the responses to 14 seafood concepts among young adults and families with young children in Denmark, Norway, and Iceland. This study was aimed at gaining insight into the evaluation of new seafood product concepts by individuals with low seafood consumption. Based on consumer-reported values and previous concept-testing, 14 seafood product concepts were tested by 296 consumers in a web-based experiment. Consumers' preferences depended on the size of fish, the presence of information, and the fish species offered. Young adult consumers evaluated the product concepts differently than parents of young children. Three consumer clusters, based on attitudinal variables, were identified explaining the differences in the evaluation of the product concepts. The outcome of this study will be used to develop a product for realistic in-home testing.     

Labeling farmed seafood: A review

Food labels help consumers choose products in line with their food attitudes and preferences. As the market for farmed seafood grows, it is important for producers to meet consumer demand for credence characteristics like safety, nutrition, origin, and sustainability. Consumer preferences for credence characteristics are heterogeneous, and stakeholders in the farmed seafood industry can look to both agriculture and marine labels when they seek ways of positioning their products. In this article, we conduct a review of consumer studies related to mandatory and voluntary labels used for farmed seafood. In most developed countries, mandatory seafood labels include information about species, farmed or wild, and area of origin. Voluntary labels include information regarding sustainability, organic production, animal welfare, traceability, and safety. We point to emerging research topics and possibilities. Challenges related to the labeling of farmed seafood are also discussed.     

CONSUMER PREFERENCES FOR ATTRIBUTES OF CATFISH NUGGETS: PRICE,BREADING COLOR,COOKING METHOD,AND COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

Marketed as the “nugget” in the seafood trade, the belly flap of the catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) is a residual portion with minimal value due to its elevated fat content and unsightly black peritoneal membrane. To ameliorate these shortcomings, a variety of marinated and breaded nugget formulations were developed and screened in the laboratory. Four of these were evaluated further for organoleptic traits using consumer sensory panels. Next, an in-store conjoint survey was conducted in 13 supermarkets in eight cities in the southern United States to elicit consumers' preferences for price ($3.28/kg, $10.12/kg, $16.51/kg), color of breading (light, medium, dark), cooking method (fried, baked), and country of origin (United States, China). Cluster analysis suggested three consumer segments: a price-sensitive segment, a U.S.-origin segment, and a dark-breading segment. Membership in the segments was related to age, ethnicity, and education. Unusually strong preferences for higher prices and country of origin were investigated in detail.     

MARINE FISH PRODUCTION AND MARKETING FOR A CHINESE FOOD MARKET: A TRANSACTION COST PERSPECTIVE

ABSTRACT

From a transaction cost perspective, this paper shows how the tradition of consuming marine fish by the majority of Hong Kong's Chinese citizens has shaped the means and modes of marketing seafood in Hong Kong. It is argued that consumer preferences stimulate aquaculture as a non-open access measure to bypass state fish marketing regulations. This has resulted in two outcomes. First, the transaction cost savings on metering output quantity and quality under private property have led not only to the collapse of the state monopoly on marine fish marketing, but also to the emergence of the (then new but) currently popular kind of Chinese seafood restaurant in Hong Kong. Second, consumer preferences for variety have shaped the form of coordination between the producer and the consumer. The advantage of market coordination has led to the emergence of a system of wholesaling and retailing rather than vertical integration. Issues concerning the emergence of Hong Kong as a regional live marine fish production and trading centre are discussed in terms of the contribution of local mariculture to sustainable development.     

SURVEY OF ETHNIC LIVE SEAFOOD MARKET OPERATORS IN THE NORTHEASTERN USA

From February through August of 2006, a team of two researchers visited 130 ethnic live seafood markets in the northeastern USA that sell live seafood. Operators of 27% of these locations completed a survey asking basic information about their businesses with respect to live seafood. This study provides interesting baseline information on these markets directly from market managers and operators. The markets surveyed have been in business for median of nine years. Sixty-three percent receive more than one live fish shipment per week. Fifty-five percent of markets sell over 227 kg of live seafood per month. Asians are the predominant clientele in most of these locations. Most market operators stated they prefer freshness and quality over price and availability. About the same number of markets identified strong sales during the winter months as those that indicated constant live seafood sales. Live tilapia and hybrid striped bass are the two most common products. Sixty-two percent of market operators view the live seafood section as very important to overall sales in their store and roughly one-quarter of those surveyed are considering expansion.     

Seafood mislabelling: comparisons of two western European case studies assist in defining influencing factors,mechanisms and motives

The global seafood industry, influenced by consumer demand, is closely linked to the global fishing industry, which determines the variety of fish available for consumption. The recently revealed issue of seafood mislabelling threatens to weaken this link by removing consumer power to influence patterns of fisheries exploitation through informed choice. Recognizing this, there is an urgent need to go beyond the mere documentation of the phenomenon and learn more about the origins of this problem and the nature of factors influencing its occurrence to develop solutions. In an attempt to understand seafood mislabelling more thoroughly in Europe, 226 cod products were purchased from Ireland and the UK, genetically identified using a DNA barcoding technique (COI barcoding gene), and species identification results were compared against product labels. Cod mislabelling proved more severe in Ireland than in the UK (28.4% vs. 7.4%). Moreover, whereas data show that in Ireland, cheaper species are sold as cod, in the UK, threatened Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) may be sold as ‘sustainably sourced’ Pacific cod. Considering these countries operate under the same EU policies for seafood traceability and labelling, it is likely that this situation has been influenced by heightened consumer awareness in the UK, which has created an environment where mislabelling is discouraged. In addition to identifying samples, traceability information from packaged cod was used to trace products back to supplying companies. Although inconclusive in determining blame, this exercise has demonstrated that using traceability information can add explanatory power when attempting to determine responsibility for the occurrence of mislabelling.     

A Voice-of-Consumer Approach in Development of New Seafood Product Concepts

This article describes a consumer-based approach for development of new seafood product concepts among young adults in Norway and Iceland. The study aim was to gain insight into how young adults determine their acceptance of seafood and make potential product choices. Additional insights measured were confidence in seafood preparation and consumption choices when exposed to specific new seafood concepts. Based on consumer-reported values, three seafood product concepts were evaluated by 354 consumers in a web-based, conjoint experiment in Norway and Iceland. Consumers' evaluations showed a number of consumer preferences for specific seafood product concepts partly associated with and partly conflicting with their original values. Understanding consumer attitudes can help to explain these results. The results of this study will be used as a guide for the next step in developing seafood product concepts.     

Understanding pressures on fishery resources through trade statistics: a pilot study of four products in the Chinese dried seafood market

This study investigates the dried seafood trade, centred in Chinese markets, in order to better understand the pressures its demand exerts on global marine resource stocks. Using Hong Kong, the region's largest entrepôt, as a focal point, the trade in shark fins, abalone, bêche‐de‐mer and dried fish is characterized in terms of product history, volume, source fisheries and species composition. Trends identified in the Hong Kong market are interpreted in the context of the larger Chinese market. Shark fin imports grew 6% per year between 1991 and 2000, most likely because of market expansion in Mainland China, posing increasingly greater pressures on global shark resources. In contrast, the quantities of dried abalone traded through Hong Kong remained steady, but inferences based on this trend are discouraged by suggestions of increasing preferences for fresh product forms and growing domestic production in Mainland China. Hong Kong's imports of dried bêche‐de‐mer (sea cucumber) have decreased, while the percentage of imports re‐exported has remained steady, suggesting that Hong Kong continues as an entrepôt for Mainland China despite declining domestic consumption. Few conclusions can be drawn regarding dried fish products, including whole fish and fish maws, because of a lack of product differentiation in customs data, but a market survey was conducted to provide information on species composition. Comparison of Hong Kong dried seafood trade statistics to those of other key trading partners indicates that, in general, Hong Kong's duty‐free status appears to encourage more accurate reporting of traded quantities. Under‐reporting biases ranged from 24 to 49% for shark fin and bêche‐de‐mer, respectively. Comparison to United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) databases indicates additional under‐reporting for shark fin such that an alternative minimum estimate of world trade is at least twice the FAO estimates in 1998–2000. The results of a survey of Hong Kong traders provide insight into their attitudes toward harvest, economic and regulatory factors, and suggest that conservation efforts are unlikely to emerge from, or be actively supported by, dried seafood trade organizations. The market's apparent sensitivity to economic sentiment, however, reveals an opportunity for consumer education to play a role in shaping future market growth and resource conservation. Recommendations are provided for improving trade statistics and for developing better analytical techniques to complement traditional methods for monitoring the exploitation and management of fisheries resources.     

Are media messages to consume more under‐utilized seafood species reliable?

Consumers are being encouraged to choose sustainable seafood. In particular, eating less‐popular, under‐utilized species is promoted as a more sustainable seafood choice. This message is advocated in the media by a range of different organizations and individuals; however, evidence of greater seafood sustainability as a result of these messages is lacking. We examine current media messaging around sustainable seafood, focussing on the messages to eat more under‐utilized species, in an Australian and international context. We identify six different intended outcomes of these messages, including that eating more under‐utilized species will take pressure off heavily fished stocks, and explore the conditions under which the perceived outcomes would be realized. We use an economic lens and discuss the effect of certain aspects of consumer demand and seafood product substitutability. We propose that in order to take pressure off overfished stocks, the message to consume more under‐utilized species would need to be accompanied by messages to limit or eat less seafood. In addition, the benefits of eating more under‐utilized species as currently promoted are not always achievable and that the outcomes of some messages, if realized, could lead to overfishing of unregulated stocks and a reduction in overall fish supply. While there are many potentially positive social, economic and environmental outcomes of consuming currently under‐utilized species, media messages should encourage consumers to buy a range of seafood, including under‐utilized species, which can be traced back to a well‐managed fishery, rather than promoting under‐utilized species per se.     

CERTIFICATION OF SHRIMP AND SALMON FOR BEST AQUACULTURE PRACTICES: ASSESSING CONSUMER PREFERENCES IN RHODE ISLAND

This study uses a conjoint experiment to evaluate seafood consumers’ preferences for wild versus farmed seafood in Rhode Island, while providing an option for farmed products to be certified for best aquaculture practices, focusing upon salmon and shrimp. The definition for best aquaculture practices provided to respondents in the survey is broadly based upon standards currently in use by aquaculture certification groups, highlighting sustainability of fish feed, and control of antibiotic use, water quality and stocking density. Using data from an in-person intercept survey, a conditional logit model shows that a sample of 250 seafood consumers in Rhode Island choose wild products over farmed even when farmed products are certified, and by an entity preferred by the consumer. Results warrant both further study of consumer preferences for certified aquaculture products across a broader population, and study of the effect of different explanations of ‘best aquaculture practices’ upon preferences.     

Preliminary Observations on the Marketability of Saltwater-Cultured Florida Red Tilapia in Puerto Rico

A preliminary assessment of the marketability of saltwatercultured Florida red tilapia was conducted at a farm outlet store and at nine restaurants in Puerto Rico. Florida red tilapia were grown in six 0.2-ha ponds at 22.7 ± 1.2 (mean ± SE) ppt salinity by a commercial aquaculture enterprise in Dorado, northeastern Puerto Rico. Customers purchased 4,683kg of dressed-out fish (gilled, gutted and scaled) at $7.70/kg and 826kg of whole fish at $6.60/kg from a retail outlet store located at the aquaculture farm, and nine restaurants purchased 1,071kg of dressed-out fish at wholesale prices ranging from $4.96 to $5.18/kg. Farm outlet customers and restaurants preferred dressed-out fish between 454–567g and 567–580g, respectively. Prices paid per serving by restaurant customers for red tilapia ($7.00–$25.00) were similar to that paid for silk snapper Lutjanus vivanus , a popular marine food fish in Puerto Rico. Market surveys of customers at these outlets showed that 75–81% of the respondents were new consumers of red tilapia and that they rated red tilapia highly in taste, texture, freshness, and presentation and equal to or better than silk snapper. There was no effect ( P > 0.05) of age group or economic level on consumer responses. Survey participants stressed the need for product promotion, including a more markehriented name that emphasized the red color and that it was farm-raised in saltwater, to distinguish it from darkcolored, wild-caught freshwater tilapia. Local saltwater production of Florida red tilapia could help supply the market demand for fresh, marine fish in Puerto Rico if producers can meet the demand for quality, availability and price.     

Marketing research paradigms for aquaculture

Abstract

A basic premise of this review is that the traditional agricultural economics marketing research paradigm is of limited value for addressing many of the key marketing issues affecting aquaculture. These issues include how to get consumers to recognize and accept new or slightly differentiated products, and how to design products that more nearly match consumer preferences. Accordingly, we stress an ‘industrial style’ market‐development approach to aquacultural marketing research that emphasizes product differentiation and market segmentation. The focus is pragmatic in that we bring into play managerial strategies (e.g. demand‐function modification and segment development) that are integral to implementing research findings. Empirical studies pertaining to seafood demand and preference articulation are selectively reviewed to illustrate concepts and to highlight research applications.     

Fair trade fish: consumer support for broader seafood sustainability

Sustainable seafood initiatives began with efforts to promote and certify seafood sourced from well‐managed stocks caught with a reduced impact on the marine environment. More recently, social equity in fisheries has been the subject of increased concern with suggestions that seafood cannot be certified as sustainable if its production results in social harm, such as unfair wages or the use of forced or child labour. Together with local seafood, which has been promoted as an eco‐friendly and socially conscious alternative to globally sourced seafood, these initiatives signal a growing interest in fisheries as a social–ecological system. However, this increasingly complex landscape of environmental sustainability and social justice may be difficult for the public and seafood consumers to navigate. Here, we investigate consumer understanding of and responsiveness to a range of seafood sustainability initiatives by testing preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for seafood across the three types of sustainability: ecological sustainability, local origin and social sustainability. More than half of respondents demonstrated good understandings of both ecological sustainability and social sustainability with respect to seafood, and respondents were willing to pay more for all three types of sustainability. However, WTP for social sustainability benefits was the lowest, and consumers perceived a high degree of overlap of these benefits with those from locally sourced seafood. These results indicate that seafood certification taking a system‐wide approach has potential to succeed, but that it will need to emerge in concert with the increased public education about social problems associated with globalized fisheries.     

U.S. seafood consumption

U.S. seafood consumption has changed dramatically in recent decades and has become increasingly dominated by the consumption of a limited number of species that are primarily imported and predominantly sourced from aquaculture. In getting to this point, the United States has been, and still is, at the forefront of some of the most important trends in global seafood markets. Hence, discussing the factors influencing U.S. seafood consumption patterns is an interesting and informative endeavor and will most likely also have strong predictive power for the continued development of seafood markets in the United States. In this article, we will discuss the transitions in the U.S. seafood market, primarily focusing on the period from 1990 to the present, highlighting the main factors that facilitated this development. This article provides an overview of U.S. landings, aquaculture production, exports, and imports and also explores contributing trends in global export and import markets. This will be followed by a discussion of U.S. per capita consumption patterns and an examination of the consolidation of species consumed over time. Finally, implications for future trends in seafood consumption and production are discussed.     

我国冷冻水产品质量状况及发展前景

主要分析了我国冷冻水产品的质量状况，探讨了鱼虾贝类产品易腐败变质的原因和控制腐败的因素，对冷冻水产品加工特点及质量改进提出了建议，展望了冷冻水产品的发展前景。     

Price Volatility in Seafood Markets: Farmed vs. Wild Fish

Price volatility has an important impact on seafood markets and the aquaculture industry. This article investigates price volatility regimes along three dimensions; technology, species and product form. We identify regimes using the Iterated Cumulative Sum of Squares (ICSS), which allow us to compare the volatility found in aquaculture products, as well as comparing against fish-meal and soybeans. The results help identify the level of price risk found within the aquaculture industry across species and products. In addition, we differentiate between technologies comparing wild-caught fish with aquaculture products. The results also help us consider the relative riskiness of aquaculture compared to other industries. The results indicate that in aggregate, price volatility for aquacultured products is substantially lower than for wild. However, this varies substantially between species.     

CONSUMER ATTITUDE TOWARDS PRICING OF LIVE AQUATIC PRODUCTS

The live aquatic products market can be defined as aquatic products sold live for the food market. This live aquatic market caters to Asian supermarkets and restaurants, and the entire market is being supplied by both wild and farmed aquatic species. This study was designed to gather market information on customer attributes and document how they feel about pricing while purchasing live aquatic products in the Northeastern U.S. The primary objective of this study is to present impact of socio-economic characteristics of aquatic products consumers and their attitude towards importance of price while buying live aquatic products.     

THE RUSSIAN SEAFOOD REVOLUTION: SHIFTING CONSUMPTION TOWARDS AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS

A food consumption revolution is taking place in Russia. After decades of severe constraints on food consumption options under the communist regime Russian consumers are now adopting new food products—including seafood products – at a high pace. Since Russian consumers have previously had very limited seafood consumption choices, the market can be seen as an interesting laboratory for investigating consumer responses to products that have previously not been available. Among imported seafood products are both wild and farmed species. Furthermore, Russian imports include both traditional species such as herring, and ‘new’ species such as pangasius. We analyze market integration among seafood products using Russian monthly import prices from 2002 to 2007 on several products, such as herring, salmonids and pangasius. We find that pangasius compete in the white fish segment, and is a price leader. In the salmonids market, farmed salmon trout appears to be the price leader, both in the fresh and frozen market segment.     

Sustainable Aquaculture Products: Implications of Consumer Awareness and of Consumer Preferences for Promising Market Communication in Germany

Sustainability issues are becoming increasingly important in Western food consumption. This research aims at identifying ways to increase the market share of sustainable fish from aquaculture by analyzing consumer awareness and preferences for sustainable aquaculture products and by drawing conclusions on improving communication in the German market. An integrative research approach was used: it began with an inventory of sustainable seafood products on the German market, followed by qualitative and quantitative consumer research, and ending with a stakeholder workshop, which reflected on the research outcome with practitioners. Sustainability and country of origin proved to be of minor relevance to the vast majority of the consumers interviewed. Indeed, attributes such as freshness, taste, and price frequently ranked higher. Like most of the other consumers, the small consumer segment that is generally interested in sustainability issues of food also often lacks knowledge of fish farming and its products. Consequently, communication of sustainability in aquaculture is challenging, and the development of this market requires concerted actions along the whole value chain, with the retail sector as the main actor.     

SPS／TBT壁垒对水产品安全的要求与对策

近年来,我国主要水产品出口国家以维护本国消费者生命健康和安全为由,纷纷采取技术性贸易壁垒来限制水产品进口,作为水产品出口和养殖大国的中国如何面对这一挑战已成为当务之急。文章就影响我国水产品安全的因素进行了论述,并分析了近年来我国水产品主要出口国家/地区的技术贸易壁垒的新走向,提出了通过加强水产品源头安全管理,夯实水产品养殖安全基础的措施来跨越技术贸易壁垒促进水产品出口。