Facilitating market access for producers: addressing market access requirements, evolving consumer needs, and trends in product development and distribution

摘要

As one of the most highly traded food commodities, fish and fishery products form a sector that is continuing to evolve. Trends in production, trade and consumption are significantly impacting prices, product development, distribution and most notably, overall market access for producers. This paper provides a comprehensive summary of these important and emerging trends while also exploring evident consumer attitudes and purchasing behaviours around seafood. These findings represent a tremendous opportunity for the seafood sector to analyze, interpret and adapt to changes in order to remain one of the most dynamic segments in global food trade. In addition, the paper presents a useful background on the current state of the seafood sector that will enable policy-makers to make informed decisions to move fish and fishery products forward in an effective way.Major findings on production, consumption, trade, value-chains and consumer behaviour are presented. Total world fish production continues to grow, primarily due to increases in aquaculture. Consumption of fish and fish products has risen steadily, withurbanization and the growth of modern distribution channels increasing the potential availability of fish to the world's consumers. The trade outlook remains positive, with a rising share of production from both developed and developing countries entering international markets. China is by far the largest fish exporter, but imports are rapidly growing. Other major importers include the United States of America, Japan and the European Union. With the fisheries value chain becoming increasingly globalized, production and processing are increasingly being outsourced, mostly to Asia.Switching perspectives from producers to consumers, some general attitudes emerge. Consumers increasingly express concerns about sustainability issues, especially overfishing. Research into consumer attitudes and behaviour confirms this, and it is predicted that sustainability will continue to gain importance. The opportunity exists for the seafood industry to build on sustainability standards, allowing consumers to understand them more clearly.Based on this in-depth analysis of the seafood sector, some key recommendations are presented as to how the sector can continue to promote growth as well as how governments can be more effective in their support. Their wider implications include facilitating market access for producers and satisfying evolving consumer needs.