By Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Aquaculture, which includes fish farming, will dominate the future world seafood industry, but there will be increased opportunities for wild products in the upper end of the market, a professor of economics says.

The forecast for increased demand for seafood is good for Alaska but fishermen must remember they are competing against other proteins, said James L. Anderson, chair of the Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics at the University of Rhode Island at Kingston, R.I.

In the long run, all significant commercial seafood supplies will come from three sources: Fish farms, aquaculture-enhanced fisheries and wild fisheries that adopt sustainable management systems, Anderson told participants at the Alaska Young Fishermen's Summit II in Anchorage on Dec. 11. The forum was organized by the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program.

Wild fisheries will thrive if harvesters adopt management systems that clearly define rights and responsibilities; stop fighting over access and allocation; emphasize economic and environmental sustainability; improve quality; understand markets; and adapt to meet consumer demands and reduce bureaucracy and waste, Anderson said.

To enhance the sale of wild products, he told the fishermen to create a message of diversity. Sell the “sauce,” sell the “image,” Anderson said, but also meet the demand for consistent availability and quality, stable or declining costs and other consumer demands, he said.

The industry should also expect to see continued rapid growth in markets for cod, cobia, tilapia, pangasius, channel catfish, flatfish and barramundi. The tilapia market has experienced very rapid growth, and many environmental non-government organizations are positive about tilapia, he said.

Anderson said in the competition for seafood consumption, shrimp, tuna, salmon, Alaska pollock, catfish, tilapia, crab, cod, clams and flatfish ranked in the top 10 in 2005, according to a survey of Fisheries of the United States completed in 2007. The survey information did not specify whether the seafoods were wild or from aquaculture sources.

The biggest issues facing the seafood industry today are aquaculture, international trade, the rising influence of China in the market and large retail and restaurant entities concerned about ecolabeling and sustainability, Anderson said.

Continued growth in aquaculture imports will continue, with per capita seafood consumption in the United States concentrated on fewer species produced primarily in aquaculture facilities, he said. This same phenomenon took place in agriculture.

Despite criticism from environmental groups, aquaculture will not go away. Attempts to curtail aquaculture development will be circumvented by new technology and product substitution, he said. The growth in aquaculture parallels a shift in the market toward value-added products that enhance consumer convenience.

Still, there will be increasing opportunities for wild products in such upper end market segments as natural food retailers and luxury restaurants, he said.

Anderson's research in fisheries and aquacultural economics began in 1980 with a study on the bioeconomics of salmon ranching in the Pacific Northwest. Salmon “ranching” involves raising young salmon fry in hatcheries and releasing them to mature in the open ocean.

Anderson has also been involved in numerous research projects related to fisheries and aquaculture management, seafood marketing and international trade, and seafood price forecasting. His recent work has focused on analysis of salmon and shrimp markets and evaluating how aquaculture development and rights-based fisheries management are changing the global seafood sector.

Anderson was one of several speakers who addressed the second summit for young Alaska fishermen. The summit was organized by the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, with sponsorship from Fishermen's News, Grunden/Stormy Seas, Highliner Coffee, Kwik'pak Fisheries, the McDowell Group, Soho Coho, and the University of Alaska Anchorage North Pacific Fisheries Observer Training Center.

Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.