Abstract
Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) is an alternative to the monoculture of fin fish species, in which several species are combined in the production process. This can have environmental advantages such as a lower environmental impact through nutrient cycling and natural filters; and can have economic advantages consisting of increased efficiency, product diversification and potential price premiums. In this paper, a choice experiment (CE) was conducted through an online survey in Ireland, the UK, Italy, Israel and Norway, to assess how the public makes decisions on what type of salmon or sea bream to buy based on the attributes of the product. Analysis assessed the Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) for more sustainable produced seafood using a Latent Class multinomial logit modelling approach. In the experiment, an ecolabel was used to distinguish between regularly produced (monoculture) products and sustainably produced (IMTA) products. The general public in each country showed a positive attitude towards the development of such an ecolabel and towards the payment of a price premium for the more sustainably produced salmon or sea bream.
Highlights
Seafood production is increasingly challenged in the context of human population growth, increasing global per capita seafood demand and diminishing wild fish stocks [1,2,3]
The latent class (LC) model assesses the source of preference heterogeneity by identifying underlying latent groups from the data set. Both the random parameter logit (RPL) and LC models have been created for this study, but this paper presents the results of the LC analysis, as this model gave a better fit with regards to statistical information criteria, as will be elaborated on
Even though 14% of the sample indicated they had heard of Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) previously, a follow-up question asking for a description of IMTA resulted in no adequate description of IMTA being provided, suggesting that the true proportion of consumers familiar with IMTA is lower
Summary
Seafood production is increasingly challenged in the context of human population growth, increasing global per capita seafood demand and diminishing wild fish stocks [1,2,3]. Multiple experiments have been conducted with IMTA; in the Far East, aquatic species have traditionally been co-cultured for centuries and in recent years IMTA has been implemented experimentally in modern industrial forms in Canada [9], Israel [10] and the Netherlands [11]. Despite this call for IMTA integration in the European industry, IMTA has not been adopted on an industrial scale. Some research results suggest that IMTA systems may have higher growth rates for the lower trophic species [15]
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