THE ECONOMICS OF INFORMATION: MARKETS FOR SEAFOOD ATTRIBUTES

This paper presents the economic theory of information, reflected by differing demand for and supply of products in the presence or absence of certain attributes. This theory is applied to the market for seafood and reviews the use of this framework in the empirical literature. Product attributes can be search attributes (demand for the product found with the lowest price or contained in preferred packaging), experience attributes (demand for a product because of previous experience with the product's taste or ease of preparation), and credence attributes (preference for products with attributes which must be identified as present by a trusted source, such as safety or recyclability). It is highly likely that, given today's competitive market for seafood and consumers' interest in knowing more about the products they purchase, the market for seafood with desired attributes will continue to evolve.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

EARLY INDICATIONS OF MARKET IMPACTS FROM THE MARINE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL'S ECOLABELING OF SEAFOOD

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Does Capacity Analysis Help us Meet Fishery Policy and Management Objectives?

This is an introductory piece for a special Thalassorama section of Marine Resource Economics.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

CERTIFICATION AND QUALITY SIGNALS IN THE AQUACULTURE SECTOR IN FRANCE

Regarding food-labeling programs, France created a set of official labels according to origin, superior quality, organic agriculture, or specific standards. While these labels have been widely used in the agri-food sector for many years, they have been applied only recently in the seafood sector, especially to farmed products. The economic importance of labeled aquaculture products is still limited, but developing. This paper will reflect on the use of labels for aquaculture products in the French seafood market and attempt to identify their effectiveness.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

TESTING SEPARABILITY OF JAPANESE DEMAND FOR MEAT AND FISH WITHIN DIFFERENTIAL DEMAND SYSTEMS

The separability of meat products from fish products is investigated to gain a better understanding of Japanese consumer choices in protein demand. Rather than view fish as a single homogeneous commodity, fish and seafood are categorized into several groups of products. Separability is investigated using a demand system approach in which a generalized system of demand equations is specified and used, first to identify if any of the alternative demand structures nested within the general system are appropriate for these data, and then, conditional on those results, to test separability of meats from fish products following Moschini, Moro, and Green. Results indicate that meats and fish were separable prior to 1990; however, when examined over the entire 1981-95 study period, they are not.Demand and Price Analysis,

A Battle of Taste and Environmental Convictions for Ecolabeled Seafood: A Choice Experiment

This paper describes a choice experiment addressing preferences for ecolabeled seafood, in which the experimental design allows for choices among various fresh seafood products. The primary emphasis is the potential trade-off between taste (i.e., a favored species) and the presence of an ecolabel, when multiple seafood products are available.Consumer/Household Economics,

Innovations and Progress in Seafood Demand and Market Analysis

The purpose of this paper is to review several economic studies which present a spectrum of interesting and creative approaches to analyzing the market for fish and seafood. These studies form a basis from which to offer recommendations for further improving analysis of fish demand and markets. We do so in an effort to advocate the potential of this area of research in the decisions which promote efficient use of the world's fisheries resources. Each of the reviewed approaches has its merits and limitations, depending on the issue at hand, quality of the data and skills of the researcher. The approaches are categorized as either demand studies following more traditional commodity market analysis methods or as market research studies.seafood, demand, marketing, international trade, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Value of Brands and Other Attributes: Hedonic Analysis of Retail Frozen Fish in the UK

In the frozen processed seafood market, through branding, product forms, and portion sizes, retailers target certain segments of the market, such as families with children, singles, or value-conscious consumers. To investigate how segmented the UK retail frozen seafood market is, this study utilizes a hedonic pricing model applied to scanner data to determine the relative value of attributes such as species, national and private brands, package size, and product and process forms. The results have implications for the seafood supply chain, as retailers influence what products processors produce. They also contribute to the highly diverse demand patterns facing fishermen and aquaculture producers.Hedonic analysis, scanner data, seafood, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, C23, D21, Q11, Q22,

A Battle of Taste and Environmental Convictions for Ecolabeled Seafood: A Contingent Ranking Experiment

Consumers face pressure from environmental groups to modify their seafood purchase decisions based on concerns about fisheries\u27 production practices. Existing research provides little information indicating whether seafood consumers are willing to change purchasing behavior based on a product\u27s environmental attributes, to the exclusion of other attributes. We describe a contingent ranking experiment addressing preferences for fresh seafood, allowing for choices among different species, some displaying an ecolabel. Results suggest consumers consider overfishing sufficiently important to contemplate changing the species of fish they buy; however, they are unwilling to choose a less-favored species based solely on the presence of an ecolabel

Toxic Algae Contamination and Demand for Shellfish: A Case Study of Demand for Mussels in Montreal

Toxic algae blooms are a worldwide phenomena, which appear to be increasing in frequency and severity. These natural events cause product contaminations that often have significant economic consequences, including supply interruptions due to closed fishing grounds, losses from human illness, and losses due to a decline in demand for the affected products. This paper evaluates the impacts of a toxic algae bloom contamination event on demand for unaffected shellfish. As an empirical example of the economic losses the shellfish industry experiences for these events, demand for mussels in Montreal is estimated using firm-level data and proxies for consumer information, during and after domoic acid contamination of Prince Edward Island mussels. Sales losses due to decreased demand are calculated. Implications of this issue for seafood safety and management policies are discussed.demand, shellfish, toxic algae, contamination, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,