Seafood industry: gender inequalities and the path forward

A survey among seafood professionals, while revealing gender inequalities across the seafood industry in most countries, also provides pointers for positive change

The French market for mussels : dominant features, competitive forces and prospects

This report's objective is to provide a comprehensive picture of the French market for mussels, to identify the competitive forces prevailing on this market and to detect potential development. Factors that are investigated include supply sources, consumption patterns, product forms, price development and marketing policies

Adding Value to Salmon Helps Capturing Market Shares

France is Europe's largest market for salmon, close to saturation for traditional products but open to opportunities for differentiated items. Over the last ten years, the supply of salmon-based products has moved from basic items to more sophisticated ones. Processing is one way of turning the product into what consumers want. But inserting non-material values is another one, which proves to be quite efficient as well. This article, inspired by a study undertaken for the salmon industry in 2005, reports that adding value to salmon is a good response to changing consumer demand and customer expectations and a successful way at capturing market shares. This presentation shows that through filleting, fixed-weight portioning, pre-cooking, assembling ingredients, packing, branding, labelling (Environmental, Regional Marketing&), producers and processors change the product, its image, its utility, its value, and ultimately its market attractiveness

The seafood ecolabeling experience in France: a new a new market for lemons?

As compared to other countries, France has been involved very lately in the discussion about fisheries ecolabelling. Reluctant to adopt the existing ecolabels, the professional organisations, the Ministry of food, agriculture and fisheries and the European Commission itself tend to create their own label guidelines to take into consideration other criteria than the mere ecological sustainability. In the meantime, some influential processors and retailing chains are involved in various initiatives covering a wide range of more or less credible emerging ecolabels. The ongoing process is therefore uncertain about the conventional standard(s) that may come out of the asymmetrical situation between the poorly informed consumers on the one hand and the current investment of the whole value chain for more or less consistent fisheries ecolabels on the other.First, a brief historical look at the various events surrounding the European and French dissemination of ecolabels is proposed in the present research, revealing the confusing emergence of a standard that could be socially accepted by the stake-holders. Secondly, from an overall survey dealing with the public image of the fishing industry in Europe (5000 interviews throughout Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Denmark), a probit model applied to the willingness of developing an ecolabel for seafood products is estimated, showing the existing gap between the social awareness of responsible fisheries requirements and the actual criteria governing the consumer behaviour when purchasing fish. Some implications for the development of ecolabeling in Europe are discussed

Maternal occupation during pregnancy, birth weight, and length of gestation: Combined analysis of 13 European birth cohorts

Objectives We assessed whether maternal employment during pregnancy – overall and in selected occupational sectors – is associated with birth weight, small for gestational age (SGA), term low birth weight (LBW), length of gestation, and preterm delivery in a population-based birth cohort design. Methods We used data from >200 000 mother-child pairs enrolled in 13 European birth cohorts and compared employed versus non-employed women. Among employees, we defined groups of occupations representing the main sectors of employment for women where potential reproductive hazards are considered to be present. The comparison group comprised all other employed women not included in the occupational sector being assessed. We performed meta-analyses of cohort-specific estimates and explored heterogeneity. Results Employees had a lower risk of preterm delivery than non-employees [adjusted odds ratio (ORadj) 0.86, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.81–0.91]. Working in most of the occupational sectors studied was not associated with adverse birth outcomes. Being employed as a nurse was associated with lower risk SGA infants (ORadj 0.91, 95% CI 0.84–0.99) whereas food industry workers had an increased risk of preterm delivery (ORadj 1.50, 95% CI 1.12–2.02). There was little evidence for heterogeneity between cohorts. Conclusions This study suggests that, overall, employment during pregnancy is associated with a reduction in the risk of preterm birth and that work in certain occupations may affect pregnancy outcomes. This exploratory study provides an important platform on which to base further prospective studies focused on the potential consequences of maternal occupational exposures during pregnancy on child development

Sustainable seafood on the French market: Expentations and attitudes of large scale buyers

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Det franske markedet for hvitfisk. Tinte filetprodukter av hvitfisk, status og framtidig utvikling

Studier av det britiske markedet har vist at tinte filetprodukter av torsk og hyse i stor grad har erstattet genuint ferske produkter i det britiske dagligvaremarkedet. Kan norske aktører oppleve den samme utviklingen i det franske markedet? Tinte produkter av torsk, hyse og sei ikke finnes i det franske markedet. Denne rapporten viser imidlertid at bildet må nyanseres.Rapport/Report 3/2011 English summaryDet franske markedet for hvitfisk. Tinte filetprodukter av hvitfisk, status og framtidig utviklingpublishedVersio

The Demand for Seafood Eco-Labels in France

International audienceThe French fishing industry has a long history and its seafood market a wide variety of products. Despite the worldwide growth in ecolabelling schemes over the past decade, the French industry has only very recently shown an interest in such schemes. Growing consumer and retailer awareness of environmental issues in France has changed the situation and it is now of interest to look at the demand for seafood ecolabelling in relation to the public perception of commercial fishing. We analyse, using an ordered Probit model, the factors influencing consumer demand for seafood ecolabelling on the basis of a French survey carried out on more than 1000 consumers. Our results show a significant relationship between the acceptability of ecolabelling and certain purchase criteria. The production process characteristics in (origin, wild vs. farmed, level of natural stocks) impact more strongly on the demand for ecolabelling than product attributes (form, visual appeal, freshness). Consumers are also influenced more by regulation than by information, inaccurate or otherwise, they may have about the fishing industry. Finally, our analysis confirms a higher demand for ecolabelling from young, educated consumers, particularly those living in non-coastal areas

The Demand for Seafood Eco-Labels in France

The French fishing industry has a long history and its seafood market a wide variety of products. Despite the worldwide growth in ecolabelling schemes over the past decade, the French industry has only very recently shown an interest in such schemes. Growing consumer and retailer awareness of environmental issues in France has changed the situation and it is now of interest to look at the demand for seafood ecolabelling in relation to the public perception of commercial fishing.We analyse, using an ordered Probit model, the factors influencing consumer demand for seafood ecolabelling on the basis of a French survey carried out on more than 1000 consumers. Our results show a significant relationship between the acceptability of ecolabelling and certain purchase criteria. The production process characteristics in (origin, wild vs. farmed, level of natural stocks) impact more strongly on the demand for ecolabelling than product attributes (form, visual appeal, freshness). Consumers are also influenced more by regulation than by information, inaccurate or otherwise, they may have about the fishing industry. Finally, our analysis confirms a higher demand for ecolabelling from young, educated consumers, particularly those living in non-coastal areas.

Blood Pressure, Heart Rate Variability, and Adiposity in Caribbean Pre-pubertal Children

International audienceChildhood obesity prevalence has increased over the last 30 years. The Heart Rate Variability (HRV) studies performed in adults suggest a possible relation between abnormal autonomic regulation and hypertension in the situation of overweight or obesity. Objective: The aims of this study were to explore the early relationships between adiposity and blood pressure and HRV in pre-pubertal children. Methods: Data were collected during the medical examination of the follow-up at 7 years of the TIMOUN mother-child cohort in Guadeloupe. Body Mass Index z-score (zBMI), sum of tricipital and subscapular skinfold thickness, percentage of fat mass, and Waist-to-Height Ratio were measured. A global corpulence score was computed using a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) and HRV parameters (cardiac holter monitoring) were collected under 2 conditions (calm and tachycardial period). Relations between HRV, SBP, each adiposity indicator and the corpulence score were studied with restricted cubic splines models, and linear regression models. The age at adiposity rebound (AR) was estimated from the individual growth curves. Results: 575 children were included in the SBP study (mean age: 7.7 years, from 85 to 99 months). SBP was linearly correlated with the corpulence score and the zBMI. An increase of 1 in the zBMI was associated with an increase of 2.3 (±0.28) mmHg in SBP. The effect-size of zBMI on SBP was higher in children with early age at AR. Compared to children with normal BMI, children with a zBMI 2SD, we observed a global increase in all HRV parameters (under tachycardial conditions), particularly the LF [β = 0.43 (±0.18)]. Conclusion: In pre-pubertal period a positive correlation between adiposity excess and SBP was observed with significant changes of HRV in boys, arguing for an early abnormal autonomic regulation and for early preventive intervention in the infancy period, particularly in case of overweight or obesity. Thinness was associated with a reduction in almost all the HRV parameters studied, when compared to normal corpulence, suggesting a decrease in autonomic influence