Retail Fish Demand in Great Britain and its Fisheries Management Implications

Abstract

Over the past 20 years, the demand for fish in the UK has changed markedly. The species prevalent in the consumption mix has altered to reflect the greater availability of farmed species and the decline in some marine-caught species. This paper examines the retail demand for fish in the UK and the implications this has for fisheries policy. A two-stage demand model using a dynamic Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) is estimated from retail panel data for fish and fish products in Great Britain.1 Both conditional and unconditional expenditure, own- and cross-price elasticities of demand are derived from the parameter estimates. Haddock, salmon, flatfish, shellfish, and smoked fish are expenditure elastic, implying that income growth will strongly increase demand for these species. Most species are own-price inelastic, suggesting that policy driven catch restrictions can increase expenditure on fish and may reduce the short-run incentives of commercial fishermen to comply.fish demand, UK, unconditional elasticities, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, D12, Q21, Q22, C51,