The Economics of Salmon Aquaculture

"Nonetheless, the book could be useful as supplementary reading for senior undergraduate- and M.Sc.-level students taking economics and business management electives as part of a degree program in aquaculture or fisheries science. The book should also be of interest to aquaculture consultants and researchers in search of a compact overview of the position of farmed Atlantic salmon in the international seafood market." (Aquacult International, 7 June 2011)

Frank Asche is Professor at the Department of Industrial Economics, University of Stavanger, Norway. Trond Bjrndal is Professor and Director of the Centre for the Economics and Management of Aquatic Resources (CEMARE), University of Portsmouth, UK, and Professor II, Aalesund University College, Norway.

Preface ix 1 Introduction 1 2 The Production Process in Aquaculture 7 2.1 Salmon production 9 2.1.1 Biological system 9 2.1.2 The grow-out phase 12 2.1.3 The physical system 15 Bibliography 16 3 The Supply of Salmon 17 3.1 Farmed salmon production 17 3.1.1 Norway 18 3.1.2 Chile 23 3.1.3 United Kingdom 26 3.1.4 Canada 29 3.1.5 Other farmed salmon producers 30 3.2 Wild salmon production 31 3.3 Regulation of salmon aquaculture 34 3.3.1 Norway 34 3.3.2 Scotland 36 3.3.3 Chile 38 3.4 The growth of large multinational companies 39 Bibliography 41 4 Productivity Growth and Technological Change 43 4.1 Declining costs 43 4.2 Scale 45 4.3 Structure of production costs 48 4.4 Smolt production 51 4.5 Improved feed quality 52 4.6 Diseases and increased survival rates 53 4.7 Breeding 55 4.8 Cycles in profitability 56 4.9 Catching up: regional differences 58 4.10 Productivity development in Norway relative to other producers 59 4.11 Cost reductions in the supply chain 62 Bibliography 63 5 Environmental Issues 65 5.1 The fish meal trap 65 5.1.1 Fisheries management 66 5.1.2 The markets for oil meals 69 5.1.3 Concluding remarks on the fish meal trap 72 5.2 Local issues 73 5.2.1 Organic waste 74 5.2.2 Antibiotics and chemicals 76 5.2.3 Salmon escapees and sea lice 78 5.2.4 Concluding remarks 80 Bibliography 80 6 Markets for Salmon 83 6.1 The European Union markets 84 6.1.1 France 85 6.1.2 Germany 88 6.1.3 United Kingdom 89 6.1.4 Spain 90 6.1.5 Italy 91 6.1.6 Denmark 92 6.1.7 Poland 93 6.2 The Japanese salmon market 94 6.2.1 Japanese salmon supply 97 6.2.2 Outlook for the Japanese salmon market 99 6.3 The United States salmon market 100 6.3.1 US seafood consumption 100 6.3.2 Imported fresh and frozen salmon 103 6.3.3 Market trends 105 6.4 The Russian market 105 6.5 Price development 107 6.5.1 Real versus nominal price 108 6.5.2 Exchange rates 109 6.5.3 Prices in different markets 110 6.5.4 Prices in different weight classes and for different product forms 113 Bibliography 116 7 Competitiveness and Market Structure 119 7.1 What is a market? 119 7.1.1 Market size 121 7.1.2 Market power 122 7.2 The salmon market 123 7.2.1 Pacific salmon 124 7.2.2 The early development of the Atlantic salmon market 125 7.2.3 Early development of the farmed Pacific salmon and salmon trout market 126 7.2.4 Fresh versus frozen 126 7.2.5 Declining prices, new sales outlets and product forms 127 7.2.6 Salmon and supermarket chains: a marriage made in heaven 129 7.3 The size of the market 131 7.4 Salmon marketing 133 7.4.1 Health benefits, food scares and environmental concerns 134 7.5 Trade restrictions 136 7.5.1 Trade restrictions in the salmon market 139 Appendix: a market model 142 Testing for market interactions 147 Bibliography 148 8 Lessons for Other Farmed Species 151 8.1 Other farmed species 151 8.1.1 Shrimp 151 8.1.2 Sea bass and sea bream 153 8.1.3 Turbot 156 8.1.4 Tilapia 157 8.1.5 Other species 160 8.2 Lessons from other farmed species 160 Bibliography 162 9 Optimal Harvesting of Farmed Fish 163 9.1 A biological model 164 9.2 Bioeconomic analysis 165 9.2.1 Zero costs 166 9.2.2 Harvesting costs 168 9.2.3 Feed costs 168 9.3 The rotation problem 169 Appendix: optimal harvesting of farmed fish 171 A biological model 171 Bioeconomic analysis 172 Harvesting costs 175 Feed costs 177 Feed and harvesting costs 179 The rotation problem 179 Optimal harvesting: examples 182 Bibliography 184 10 Production Planning in a Salmon Farm 187 10.1 Cash flow analysis 188 10.2 Smolt release and biomass growth 190 10.3 Sales revenue 193 10.4 Feeding costs 195 10.5 Net present value 197 10.6 Selective harvesting 199 11 Investment in a Salmon Farm 201 11.1 A production plan 201 11.2 A liquidity budget 205 11.3 Cost of production 209 11.4 Inv