As the link between fishermen, consumers, and the broader economy, markets play a key role in how fisheries operate. These linkages are complex, intertwining not only the global seafood market with your local fishmonger, or grocery store, but also regional labor, diesel prices, marine insurance, and other less obvious markets. They involve both social and economic relationships (Applbaum 2005, Wilson 1980), with community supported fisheries representing a special case of direct sales between fishermen and consumers (Brinson et al. 2011, Stoll et al. 2015, McClenachan 2016). Traceability programs (Abad et al. 2009, Helyar et al. 2014) and eco-labeling (Wessels et al. 1999) have become more common in recent years, as fishermen and processors have attempted to differentiate and capitalize on product quality.
References
- Abad, E., F. Palacio, M. Nuin, A. Gonzalez De Zarate, A. Juarros, J. M. Gómez, and S. Marco. "RFID smart tag for traceability and cold chain monitoring of foods: Demonstration in an intercontinental fresh fish logistic chain." Journal of food engineering 93, no. 4 (2009): 394-399.
- Applbaum, Kalman. "17 The anthropology of markets." In James Carrier, ed. A Handbook of Economic Anthropology (2005):275-289. Northampton, Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc.
- Brinson, Ayeisha, Min-Yang Lee, and Barbara Rountree. "Direct marketing strategies: the rise of community supported fishery programs." Marine Policy 35, no. 4 (2011): 542-548.
- Helyar, Sarah J., Hywel ap D. Lloyd, Mark de Bruyn, Jonathan Leake, Niall Bennett, and Gary R. Carvalho. "Fish product mislabelling: failings of traceability in the production chain and implications for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing." PLoS One 9, no. 6 (2014): e98691.
- McClenachan, Loren, Sahan Dissanayake, and Xiaojie Chen. "Fair trade fish: consumer support for broader seafood sustainability." Fish and fisheries 17, no. 3 (2016): 825-838.
- Stoll, Joshua S., Bradford A. Dubik, and Lisa M. Campbell. "Local seafood: rethinking the direct marketing paradigm." Ecology and Society 20, no. 2 (2015).
- Wessells, Cathy R., Robert J. Johnston, and Holger Donath. "Assessing consumer preferences for ecolabeled seafood: the influence of species, certifier, and household attributes." American Journal of Agricultural Economics 81, no. 5 (1999): 1084-1089.
- Wilson, James A. "Adaptation to uncertainty and small numbers exchange: the New England fresh fish market." The Bell Journal of Economics (1980): 491-504.