Climate change might increase the risk of salmon pisciculture operations by reducing the freshwater supply. Technological change is often regarded as a key aspect of climate adaptation. This paper presents the results of a labeled Choice Experiment designed to explore the preferences of salmon pisciculture managers for recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) and nature-based solutions (NbS) in Chile. We found that the managers consider not only the investment costs but also the environmental consequences of the technology and the social acceptability of the industry. While economic attributes primarily drive investment decisions for RAS, environmental and temporal factors are more significant when adopting NbS. We also found that managers of salmon land-based farms located in higher-risk zones are less likely to adopt new technology. We interpret this as evidence that producers have not yet been significantly affected by climate change in the study zones and are overconfident about the likelihood of future climate-related events. This finding highlights the need to raise awareness of the more adverse impacts associated with climate change that are expected for the sector in the future.

Diversification and specialization represent two strategic pathways, with differing implications for economic performance, risk management, and resilience. Using survey data from 417 prawn farms in Bangladesh, this study examines the economic effects of joint production in integrated extensive gher systems combining prawn, carp, rice, and vegetables. An output-oriented stochastic distance function with a translog (TL) specification is used estimate technical efficiency, elasticities, and economies of scale and scope. Results indicate an average technical efficiency score of 0.70, indicating a 30% potential output gap. We find decreasing returns to scale (scale elasticity ≈0.52), with seed cost exhibiting strong negative efficiency effects and feed cost showing significant positive contributions. Among income sources, aquaculture income has the largest positive effect on efficiency, followed by other on-farm income. Off-farm income, while important for household resilience, shows no positive efficiency effect and may compete with farmers’ managerial focus. Scope economies are strongest when aquaculture is combined with other on-farm activities (e.g. rice and vegetables), highlighting the benefits of targeted diversification within this setting. Our findings suggest that while on-farm diversification can enhance cost efficiency and resilience, specialization remains relevant for optimizing certain inputs and managing operational scale.

The United States is one of the major seafood product importers in the world. Despite the increases in global seafood and aquaculture consumption over the past decades, there is a need for updated information on the trade dynamics of the U.S. imports of key aquaculture species such as catfish and trout. To address this gap, this study uses an augmented gravity model to evaluate the factors that have influenced catfish and trout imports into the United States. The analysis was conducted using the Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimator to address issues of heteroskedasticity, autocorrelation, and zero trade flows. The results highlight the importance of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and exchange rates in explaining catfish trade, while distance and free trade agreements (FTAs) play a significant role in trout imports. The inclusion of country-pair and seasonal fixed effects demonstrates how unobserved factors tend to influence trade volumes, diminishing the importance of key variables in the gravity model, such as GDP. Moreover, findings indicate that protective measures such as tariffs and antidumping duties may not affect imports as intended.

In countries with limited water resources that increasingly rely on imported food, sustainable fish farming offers a promising pathway to improve food security. This study focuses on Saudi Arabia, an arid country prioritizing domestic aquaculture expansion under its Vision 2030 initiative, and investigates consumer preferences for domestically farmed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) as a viable substitute for imported salmon. Using a discrete choice field experiment at point-of-sale with 333 consumers in Riyadh and Jeddah, we estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) for key rainbow trout attributes, including origin, certification, product form, processing method, and color. Results show strong preferences for domestically produced, SAMAQ-certified (a national aquaculture quality label), fresh fillets with orange color, and significant WTP premiums for these traits. We also compare these WTP estimates with production cost scenarios to assess the economic feasibility of substituting imported salmon with domestically farmed rainbow trout. Findings suggest that, under efficient production scales, domestically produced trout can be cost-competitive with imports when aligned with consumer preferences. This study contributes new evidence from an arid, import-dependent country and highlights how aligning supply with consumer demand can support aquaculture expansion. The results offer practical guidance for food system transformation in similar contexts globally.

Ecolabels are designed to help consumers make more informed choices about the sustainability of products. One well-known eco-certification in aquaculture is the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification. This article examines the relationship between the ASC ecolabel and the export price of farmed salmon products from Chile to the United States. The findings indicate that ASC-certified products command higher prices, suggesting that companies with ASC certification generate more revenue from sales than those without it. Moreover, the price premium for ASC-certified salmon is even more significant for high-quality cuts, such as fresh salmon fillets.

In many developing countries, the labor market participation and incomes are increasing. The time available for preparing meals has become scarce, potentially increasing the demand for more processed food products. This study investigated the reasons for the repeated purchase intentions of processed shrimp products in Bangladesh. Founded on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), data from 250 superstore consumers were collected from three metropolitan cities in Bangladesh via a semi-structured questionnaire. High-income consumers purchase more processed shrimp products than do low- and middle-income consumers and more frequently, and consumption is also impacted by educational and occupation status. Structural equation modeling revealed that repeated purchases of processed shrimp products domestically were significantly influenced by purchase intentions, which were affected by trust, attitudes, and perceived control.

The rapid growth in global aquaculture production has enabled the global supply of aquatic food to grow substantially, and much of this is linked to a growing supply of introduced species. This article explores the integration of regional markets for pangasius in Bangladesh, a now well-established aquaculture species first introduced in the early 1990s. Using bivariate and multivariate cointegration approaches on monthly retail prices, the study tested the for integration as well as the Law of One Price. The findings suggest that there is a high degree of market integration of pangasius between the regional markets and a common price determination process. As there is no exogenous price, shocks from all regions incorporate themselves into the eventual price. However, the price volatility in the Dhaka region is lower than in the other regions.

Seafood markets are increasingly becoming global as more and more countries and species are sharing a common price determination processes. This study examines spatial market integration in Istanbul fish market and import prices to Türkiye employing non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model and the frequency-domain Granger causality test. The sample period covers a significant regulatory reform designed to enhance the functioning of Turkish wholesale food markets, streamline the supply chain between producers and consumers, and lower prices at the retail level. Using the model, estimations are conducted for the full sample and post-reform periods to understand the impact of the reform on market integration. The estimation results show there is no long-run asymmetry in either the full sample or the post-law period, but short-run asymmetry is present in the market. In this sense, the amendment to the wholesale market law does not lead to any change in price asymmetry. In addition, vertical market integration is established between the domestic and imported fish prices. After the reform, the statistically significant and relatively higher price elasticities compared to the full sample period indicate stronger market integration, suggesting that the law has, at least to some extent, enhanced market efficiency.

Chile, the world’s second-largest salmon producer, is geographically remote from its main consumer markets, creating logistical challenges for exporting perishable salmon products. This paper examines how the Chilean salmon industry has overcome these challenges to establish a competitive export sector. Using customs data from 2002 to 2024 in an augmented gravity model, we analyze how exporters adapt to trade costs and respond to major shocks. Our findings indicate that exporters segment export routes by product form (fresh versus frozen) and transport mode (air, sea, land) across destination markets, and that the industry exhibits portfolio-based resilience in response to crises. During major disruptions, such as the 2007–2010 Infectious Salmon Anemia disease outbreak and the 2014 Russian embargo on Norwegian and Scottish seafood, Chilean exporters reweighted portfolios by redirecting products to alternative markets rather than exiting. This combination of logistical segmentation and resilient trade reallocation helps explain how Chile’s salmon industry has thrived despite geographic remoteness.

Non-point source (NPS) pollution of the salmon lice parasite Lepeophtheirus salmonis from Norwegian fish farms poses environmental risk for Norway’s wild Atlantic salmon stocks. To mitigate wild smolt mortality caused by this NPS pollution, the so-called traffic light system (TLS) was implemented in 2017. The system divides the Norwegian coast into 13 production areas, using wild smolt mortality as an ambient environmental indicator. Based on their aggregate impact on the indicator, salmon farmers can receive an increase or decrease in maximum allowed biomass. The TLS shares similarities with proposed ambient regulation methods in NPS pollution literature, including a collective penalty-reward incentive scheme. However, the effectiveness of this scheme in Norwegian salmon aquaculture remains uncertain. We analyze reported lice counts from farms between 2012–2024 to assess the TLS impact on NPS pollution of salmon lice. We find that a collective punishment-reward scheme is likely to be effective if the reward resembles a subsidy. However, the true effect of the TLS is likely to be limited by weaknesses in the management framework itself, as farmers may perceive a disconnect between their individual pollution and their aggregate impact on the environmental indicator.