Developing Local Sustainable Seafood Markets: A Thai Example

• Author: Melissa Marschke,Jawanit Kittitornkool,Courtney Kehoe,Wichitta Uttamamunee,Peter Vandergeest
• Published date: 01 March 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.18278/wfp.2.2.3.1.3
• Date: 01 March 2016

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World Food Policy - Volume 2, Issue 2/Volume 3, Issue 1, Fall 2015/Spring 2016

Courtney KehoeA, Melissa MarschkeA, Wichitta UttamamuneeB, Jawanit

KittitornkoolB & Peter VandergeestC

Developing Local Sustainable Seafood Markets:

A ai Example

Introduction

The sustainable seafood movement

began nearly two decades ago

in response to failing sheries

management and the subsequent

degradation of ocean ecologies and

sheries (Jacquet and Pauly 2007; Konefal

2013). Driven largely by nongovernmental

organizations (NGO), industry, and the

private sector, this movement sought

to ll a governance gap through the use

of market mechanisms like third-party

certication and ecolabeling. Under

ecolabeling schemes, retailers and food

companies seek to enhance brand value

through an association with sustainability.

Producers, in turn, may gain access

to particular markets for sustainably

harvested seafood, oen in the EU and in

North America. Although the eectiveness

of these mechanisms in terms of their

ability to increase ecological sustainability

remains unclear, ecolabeling continues

to grow in prominence (Lay 2012; Ponte

2012; Hallstein and Villas-Boas 2013).

A University of Ottawa, Canada

B Prince of Songkla University, ailand

CYork University, Canada

Increasing awareness of degradation in ocean ecologies and sheries has

made seafood a leading edge in the green marketing movement, with most

major buyers in the global North committing to buying seafood that has been

certied as sustainable. But what about the signicant and growing Asian

markets, where seafood has become a healthy and prestigious food choice

among wealthier consumers? Is it possible to develop a market for sustainably

produced seafood among Asian consumers motivated by civil and ecological

concerns? To address these questions our research traces how a ai Fisherfolk

Shop, located 4 hours to the south of Bangkok, has worked to develop an

alternative market for seafood caught by local, small-scale shers. Although we

nd that there is a mismatch between the volume of aquatic species that shers

catch, the ability of the Shop to process, store, and sell seafood, and consumer

demand, our analysis suggests that it is possible to create a market for small-

scale, sustainably sourced seafood in ailand.

Keywords: small-scale shers, sustainable seafood, conventions theory,

consumer awareness, Asian markets

doi: 10.18278/wfp.2.2.3.1.3

33

Within the seafood sector, a

large number of competing management

practices and standards have developed—

some global, some national, and others

targeting specic species or shing

methods—with over 30 sheries ecolabels

in existence (Jacquet et al. 2010; Roheim

2009; Parkes et al. 2010). e dominant

global sustainability standard for wild

catch sheries is the Marine Stewardship

Council (MSC) (Blackmore and Norbury

2015): ~12 percent of world sheries

production is currently MSC certied,

although this market is generally limited

to species consumed in the North (Belton

and Bush 2014; Bush et al. 2013; Marine

Stewardship Council 2014). MSC has

single-handedly created “sustainable sh”

as a commodity that has been brought

into mainstream retail in North America

and Europe (i.e., Walmart and Carrefour)

(Ponte 2012; Vandergeest, Ponte, and Bush

2015). A signicant portion of producers

and consumers of lower level trophic

species, however, are being excluded from

such markets.

Asia, as a region, has substantial

potential in terms of marketing local

sustainable seafood: 84 percent of all people

employed in sheries and aquaculture live

in Asia (over 58 million people) (Food and

Agriculture Organization 2014). As a food

source, sh continues to be a major source

of animal protein and plays an especially

important role in many vulnerable rural

and coastal communities (Belton and

ilsted 2014). Fish also play a central

role in culture and cuisine in inland

and coastal regions, and the continuing

rise of an urban middle class is likely to

result in even higher levels of demand

for seafood products. Consumer surveys

in ailand show a substantial market

for organic foods and related labels, with

consumers willing to pay high premiums

(Posri, Shankar, and Chadbunchachai

2006; Roitner-Schobesberger et al. 2008;

Sangkumchaliang and Huang 2012a). e

question is whether this interest could be

extended to sustainable seafood, as the

motivation for organic consumers seems

to be primarily about health and safety.

Our article explores the possibility

of expanding coverage of sustainable

seafood through tapping national markets

and the degree to which such markets can

respond to the interests of small-scale

producers. e article traces how a ai

Fisherfolk Shop—referred to throughout

this article as the Shop—located 4 hours

south of Bangkok has worked to develop

an alternative market for seafood caught

by small-scale shers. is Shop is one

of a planned network of such shops

throughout ailand, marketing seafood

caught mainly from the Gulf of ailand.

We begin our article by analyzing the

type of aquatic species caught by local

shers that the Shop procures seafood

from, before turning to an assessment of

how the Shop more generally procures,

processes, and sells sustainable seafood.

We then consider why consumers are

willing to pay premium prices for local,

sustainably sourced seafood, drawing

on conventions theory to aid in our

analysis, and reect upon the challenges

facing shers, the Shop, and consumers

to ensure a t between supply, demand,

and sustainability. We argue that this

case provides evidence of how a local

sustainable seafood movement can meet

multiple demands and support a move

toward social-ecological sustainability in

the sheries.

World Food Policy