Medidas de Gestao das Pescarias Marinhas e Aquicultura 2019 The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 | Page 79

THE STATE OF WORLD FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 2018
excluded. The higher proportion in the case of
traded value points to the fact that heavily traded
aquaculture species, particularly salmon, shrimp
and some bivalves, have a relatively high unit
value. In addition to the production process itself,
aquaculture differs from capture fisheries in
many fundamental ways, including business and
industr y structure, inputs, risk factors,
environmental impact and infrastructure
requirements. Each of these differences has
implications for the dynamics and development
of global trade in fish and fish products.
third quarter of 2017 was 157, compared with 147 in
the third quarter of 2016 and 138 for the same
period in 2015 (Figure 23). This upward trend is
observed in most species groups, both farmed and
wild, reflecting a combination of improved
economic conditions and supply shortages for a
number of key species.
Over 90 percent of the quantit y (in live weight
equivalent) of trade in fish and fish products
consisted of processed products (i.e. excluding
live and fresh whole fish) in 2016, with frozen
products representing the highest share. The high
perishabilit y of fish notwithstanding, consumer
demand and innovative chilling, packaging and
distribution technolog y have led to increased
trade in live, fresh and chilled fish, which
represented about 10 percent of world fish trade
in 2016. About 78 percent of the quantit y
exported consisted of products destined for
human consumption. Much fishmeal and fish oil
is traded because, generally, the major producers
(in South America, Scandinavia and Asia) are not
the same countries as the main consumption
centres (in Europe and Asia).
As aquaculture producers can exercise a greater
degree of control over the production process,
aquaculture supply volumes are more predictable
in the short term. Vertical and horizontal
integration have created economies of scale and
logistical efficiencies that allow large
consolidated producers to supply consistent
volumes of consistent size and qualit y to an array
of international markets, even in fresh or chilled
form. The aquaculture sector is still susceptible to
substantial shocks due to disease or other
environmental events, however, and the impacts
of these events on prices are transmitted across
international markets increasingly efficiently.
Between markets for wild and farmed fish,
producers in one sector will generally be exposed
to price trends in the other within the same
market segment, although the degree of
integration varies significantly across species.
There is no overall consensus as to whether
farmed fish prices will always respond to those of
wild fish or vice versa, and whether one
commands a natural premium. These dynamics
depend on the species, the product form and the
particular market. However, some heavily traded
species such as salmon and shrimp do appear to
display a significant degree of integration in terms
of prices, suggesting that increased supply from
aquaculture in these markets has been and will
remain a major influencing factor in price trends.
The value given above for exports of fish and fish
products in 2016, USD 143 billion, does not
include an additional USD 1.7 billion from trade
in seaweeds and other aquatic plants (57 percent),
inedible fish by-products (32 percent) and
sponges and corals (11 percent). Trade in aquatic
plants increased from USD 60 million in 1976 to
more than USD 1 billion in 2016, with Indonesia,
Chile and the Republic of Korea the major
exporters, and China, Japan and the United
States of America the leading importers. Owing
to the increasing production of fishmeal and
other products derived from fish processing
residues (see the previous section, “Fish
utilization and processing”), trade in inedible
fish by-products has also surged, up from
USD 9 million in 1976 to USD 0.5 billion in 2016.
Salmon and trout
Overall, international prices of fish were relatively
high in 2017. With a base year of 2002–2004 = 100,
the FAO Fish Price Index (developed in cooperation
with the University of Stavanger, Norway, and with
data support from the Norwegian Seafood Council)
seeks to capture price trends in the most frequently
traded species groups and for farmed and wild fish
and fish products. The average index value over the
Trade in salmon has increased at an average of 10
percent per year in value terms since 1976, and
since 2013 it is the largest single fish commodit y
by value (Table 17). This growth has been partially
driven by rising incomes and urbanization in
emerging markets, particularly in East and
Southeast Asia, but salmon has also retained a »
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