Assessing the efficiency of aquaculture cooperatives. A country case study

Forleo, Maria Bonaventura; Romagnoli, Luca; Palmieri, Nadia; Nocera, Angela Di

doi:10.3280/ecag2018-002006

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The second issue encompasses serious concerns about the economic sustainability of aquaculture farming, i.e., its ability to be profitable in the long run. What emerged from the few studies focusing on the economic performance of aquaculture at the farm level [46] is the current critical state of the cost structure of aquaculture firms, in particular, due to high feeding costs, which have caused the failure of many such companies. Indeed, the increasing fish demand has resulted in the growing demand for feed, leading to a rapid rise in the price of fish feed [2].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Introduction of Insect Meal into Fish Diet: The First Economic Analysis on European Sea Bass Farming

et al. 2019

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The economic and environmental sustainability of aquaculture depends significantly on the nature and quality of the fish feed used. One of the main criticisms of aquaculture is the need to use significant amounts of fish meal, and other marine protein sources, in such feed. Unfortunately, the availability of the oceanic resources, typically used to produce fish feed, cannot be utilized indefinitely to cover the worldwide feed demand caused by ever-increasing aquaculture production. In light of these considerations, this study estimates how aquaculture farm economic outcomes can change by introducing insect meal into the diet of cultivated fish. Several possible economic effects are simulated, based on various scenarios, with different percentages of insect flour in the feed and varying meal prices using a case study of a specialized off-shore sea bass farm in Italy. The findings indicate that the introduction of insect meal—composed of Tenebrio molitor—would increase feeding costs due to the high market prices of this flour and its less convenient feed conversion ratio than that of fish meal. Therefore, the expected environmental benefits of using this highly promising insect meal in fish feed do not align with the current economic interests of the aquaculture industry. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate this theme, and it must be noted that our findings cannot be generalized widely because a specific case study was used. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that efforts should be made—at least at the farm level—to find profitable ways to encourage the introduction of this attractive alternative to guarantee both economic and environmental sustainability in the near future.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Introduction of Insect Meal into Fish Diet: The First Economic Analysis on European Sea Bass Farming

et al. 2019

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“…They highlighted the role of seafood retailers and showed a vital link to the naming system of seafood with a lack of product name diversification. Fish producers' situation was studied by Forleo et al (2018) in Italy in the case of aquaculture cooperatives showing the size of the cooperatives more critical than their location.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

"Pale Lager and Double Carp Fries, Please". The McDonaldization of the Culinary Culture in the Czech Republic

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Plzáková

Hán

et al. 2020

Economia Agro-Alimentare

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This article explores attitudes of hospitality stakeholders (HSs) and consumers towards fish gastronomy in the Czech Republic with an emphasis on traditional recipes and the impact of globalization. For the exploration of HSs' attitudes, qualitative investigation via in-depth semi-standardized interviews was employed with 19 fish restaurant HSs. The abstraction, appearance of ideal types of HSs, and integration with four aspects of Ritzer's McDonaldization theory were done. For the exploration of consumers' attitudes, sensory evaluation of seven fish dishes with 1698 participants was used. Lastly, a focus group was conducted with regular fish food consumers.Three ideal types of HS named progressive innovators, taste defenders, and occasional traditionalists appeared. For all of them, aspects of McDonaldization were obvious, meaning shift towards rationalization in Czech fish culinary culture and possible dilution of the original identity. As the main reasons for deauthentication of Czech fish gastronomy, a high laboriousness of traditional fish dishes causing high time consumption for restaurant staff, and the inclusion of bones in most of the traditional Czech fish dishes as the main barrier for consumers were identified. Paradoxically, consumers preferred traditional dishes more, showing a discrepancy between the attitudes of consumers and HSs. This result drew attention to the need for marketing research on the part of HSs. When already prepared dishes were presented, consumers preferred to choose more time-consuming fish dishes with more input ingredients. In the restaurant, consumers more often choose bone-free dishes. On the other hand, in households, consumers prefer the cheaper purchase of whole fish with bones. Ways of defense against food globalization were outlined: promotion of traditional fish dishes not contradicting the McDonaldization aspects, supporting food with strong national traditions, and the usage of glocalization when the skills, specificity, or original ingredients are sustained despite globalization.

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