Global integration of European tuna markets

Abstract

International audienceThis paper evaluates the degree of integration between the world market and the major European marketplaces of frozen and canned tuna through both vertical and horizontal price relationships. Spatial linkages are investigated horizontally in order to estimate the connection between the European market and the world-wide market on the primary stage of the value chain. One of the key results is the high level of market integration at the ex-vessel stage, and the price leadership of yellowfin tuna over skipjack tuna. The same approach is applied at the ex-factory level. Basically, the European market for final goods appears to be segmented between the Northern countries consuming low-priced canned skipjack tuna imported from Asia (mainly Thailand) and the Southern countries (Italy, Spain) processing and importing yellowfin-based products sold at higher prices. France appears to be an intermediate market where both products are consumed. The former market is found to be well integrated to the world market and can be considered to be competitive, but there is a suspicion of market power being exercised on the latter. Price relationships are therefore tested vertically between the price of frozen tuna paid by the canneries and the price of canned fish in both Italy and France. The two species show an opposite pattern in prices transmission along the value chain: price changes along the chain are far better transmitted for the "global" skipjack tuna than for the more "European" yellowfin tuna. The results are discussed, along with their implications for the fishing industry. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd

Fewer Fish for Higher Profits? Price Response and Economic Incentives in Global Tuna Fisheries Management

“…A number of recent studies have shown the strong globalization of tuna markets (Jeon et al 2008;Jiménez-Toribio et al 2010) and two separate market chains: purse-seine/cannery-grade and long-line/sashimigrade tuna (Miyake et al 2010). Each of these two distinct markets is highly integrated at the worldwide level across locations and species, making any regional change in catches important for the entire industry.…”

“…However, the data is not sufficiently comprehensive to evaluate the price response to the imports from all sources. Other authors utilized cointegration bivariate and multivariate tests through an error-correction model to show that prices of frozen tuna for canning co-moved in the longrun (Jeon et al 2008), that the law of one price holds between yellowfin and skipjack, and that Bangkok was clearly a market leader (weak exogeneity) (Jeon et al 2008;Jiménez-Toribio et al 2010). However, none of the past studies have directly measured the responsiveness of prices to changes in the global supply of cannery-grade tuna and its substitution within the canning industry.…”

“…Public regulation largely remains focused at the individual tRFMO level, but due to the global integration of tuna markets by both price and commodity flows (Jeon et al 2008;Jiménez-Toribio et al 2010), there are unexploited avenues for conservation arising through these globally integrated markets. Specifically, lowering formal or informal catch limits at the regional level might impact prices globally, altering incentives to fish.…”

“…This statement is true under specific assumptions of effective markets where equilibrium prices and quantities can adjust in the long term. The tuna market for canneries at the global level has proved to be competitive enough to allow for such adjustments (Jeon et al 2008;Jiménez-Toribio et al 2010).…”

Factors that determine the quality of bigeye tuna, caught in the western tropical Atlantic Ocean

“…A quarter of the world's captured tunas ends up as sashimi (Jiménez-Toribio et al, 2010), which makes the control of product quality extremely important (Mateo et al, 2006), because only fish of excellent quality are used for its preparation.…”