GRANT
NUMBER:
NA76FD0041
NMFS NUMBER: 96-AKR-018
REPORT
TITLE:
Asian Dried Seafood Market Analysis
AUTHOR:
Duff W. Mitchell
PUBLISH
DATE:
November 9, 1999
AVAILABLE
FROM:
National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Region, 709
West 9th Street, Federal Building, 4th Floor, Juneau,
Alaska 99801. TELEPHONE: (907) 586-7273
Click HERE
to read the entire final report.
ABSTRACT
Alaskan resources
vary from low-value unwanted species that have little
to no market acceptance to very high-priced wanted species
where marketability is limited only by supply. This
study concentrated on the marketability of dried underutilized
salmon and bycatch species to the Asian market.
How to transform a low-value raw material into a valuable
consumer product that can be sold at a price that covers
all processing and transportation costs and that yields
a profit is a common issue being addressed around the
world. Countries with large populations and extensive
coastlines maximize the use of their domestic maritime
resources as a matter of national policy in order to feed
their citizens. Until now, Alaskan and other Pacific
Coast-based processors have been able to fish top-end
valuable fisheries resources and either throw overboard
or avoid unwanted species. However, this study found
that drying lower-valued species is a viable solution
to bycatch problems. This study included the following
recommendations:
1.
Identify established dried seafood products in a targeted
country and then use a backwards-planning technique that
starts with the consumer and the market price sold at
retail and then works backwards to the catching of the
resource.
2.
Select a target market or segment of a market and concentrate
on penetrating that market.
3.
Support, promote, and encourage tariff reductions in countries
that consume dried and value-enhance seafoods.
4.
Invite dried seafood technicians to assist in the development
of American-made seafood products to better accommodate
the tastes of a targeted foreign consumer population.
5.
Develop partnerships with foreign dried seafood producers
and marketing companies to assist in creating a market
for Alaskan-produced dried seafood products.
6.
Employ suitable technology and capital investment to lower
costs and create a competitive advantage over foreign
dried fish producers.
