TY - JOUR
T1 - Alternative seafood marketing systems foster transformative processes in Mediterranean fisheries
AU - Gomez Mestres, Silvia
N1 - Funding Information:
The Natural Park of Cap de Creus (assignment PDR 46/2015 ), the Catalan Government , Observatory of the Ethnological and Intangible Heritage (OPEI) funding programme (reference CLT051/17/00020 ) and the European Union H2020 Research Programme (contract grant no. 773713 , project Pandora) contributed funds to this research. We acknowledge all fishers and marketing initiative promoters that kindly participated in the project. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their accurate and constructive comments, which helped to improve the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/5/1
Y1 - 2021/5/1
N2 - Local fisheries have often limited influence on the pricing dynamics due to their low capacity of production and because they must compete with aquaculture products or imported seafood. As a response, new marketing and labelling initiatives, such as direct sale and certification of origin schemes, have emerged. In Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, over the last 15 years, these initiatives have been thriving in the interstices of the traditional marketing channels, which start at the auction as the first sale system and largely determine the ex-vessel prices. These initiatives represent a pragmatic effort to cope with the diminishing fisheries resources while adding value to the catches and helping to improve the sale prices. They are also a way to acquire larger market flexibility to face global challenges. We investigated emerging marketing and labelling initiatives by means of one discussion session, semi-structured interviews with fishers, fishmongers and other actors involved in the production, first sale and distribution of seafood. In this paper, we draw from 4 years of fieldwork in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands to investigate the history and evolution of alternative seafood marketing arrangements and why some have succeeded and others failed. The research provides an illustrative example of how fishers adapt and resist global market forces and calls into question the monopolistic structures grounded in the existing relationships between fisheries associations and middlepersons. The results of the fieldwork also highlighted the problem of adjusting catches to demand, and the conflicts of interest between the fisheries sectors, enterprises and fisheries associations.
AB - Local fisheries have often limited influence on the pricing dynamics due to their low capacity of production and because they must compete with aquaculture products or imported seafood. As a response, new marketing and labelling initiatives, such as direct sale and certification of origin schemes, have emerged. In Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, over the last 15 years, these initiatives have been thriving in the interstices of the traditional marketing channels, which start at the auction as the first sale system and largely determine the ex-vessel prices. These initiatives represent a pragmatic effort to cope with the diminishing fisheries resources while adding value to the catches and helping to improve the sale prices. They are also a way to acquire larger market flexibility to face global challenges. We investigated emerging marketing and labelling initiatives by means of one discussion session, semi-structured interviews with fishers, fishmongers and other actors involved in the production, first sale and distribution of seafood. In this paper, we draw from 4 years of fieldwork in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands to investigate the history and evolution of alternative seafood marketing arrangements and why some have succeeded and others failed. The research provides an illustrative example of how fishers adapt and resist global market forces and calls into question the monopolistic structures grounded in the existing relationships between fisheries associations and middlepersons. The results of the fieldwork also highlighted the problem of adjusting catches to demand, and the conflicts of interest between the fisheries sectors, enterprises and fisheries associations.
KW - Direct marketing
KW - Labelling
KW - Marketing systems
KW - Mediterranean Sea
KW - Prices
KW - Seafood
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101186304&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/29402128-d98a-3bd2-8f19-3f6cc235a632/
UR - https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1cckY,714MjKNh
U2 - 10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104432
DO - 10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104432
M3 - Article
VL - 127
JO - Marine Policy
JF - Marine Policy
SN - 0308-597X
ER -