reLAKSation 114.
Young gUns:
The UK's Sea Fish Industry Authority has been investigating what influences
children's consumption of fish and seafood. According to IntraFish the study was
intended to provide SeaFish with an understanding of the decisions and factors
affecting children's food choices.
The key
finding was that children's food orientation is influenced by the attitudes and
behaviour of their parents. Should we really be surprised? Of course parental
influence will dominate children's behaviour as they grow up, that is until they
strive to gain some independence and then they usually act in an opposite way to
that expected by their parents. This emulation of parental behaviour must be of
concern to seafood producers because the clear trend is that most consumers
under the age of 45, the typical age group of parents of younger children, do
not choose to eat seafood themselves. If their children emulate their behaviour,
then they too will have very low seafood consumption. This does not paint a very
promising future for the seafood industry.
The SeaFish
researchers were more optimistic and found that the key strengths of fish
identified by many mothers were taste, light texture and that it is understood
that fish is good for you. By comparison, these mothers thought that their
children would be deterred by the presence of bones, lack of cooking skill i.e.,
that the fish would be plain and the perceived taste and smell, exactly, the
same barriers to consumption that the parents might declare.
The research
advised a number of action points. The main one was that an integrated and
interactive approach to primary school children was likely to be the most
effective way of encouraging fish consumption, with 8 to 11 year old being the
optimum age group. In response to these findings, SeaFish is planning to adapt
it's educational programme to include amongst other initiatives the launch of a
series of cartoon led promotions featuring characters like Mac(kerel) the
computer geek. We are not convinced because SeaFish has run similar promotions
in the past. Instead, we share a view with top celebrity chef; Anthony Worral
Thompson that the only way to persuade youngsters to eat healthy and nutritious
food like fish is to introduce compulsory school meals of this type. Otherwise,
school kids will simply spend their money on the type of junk food that they
seem to prefer.
However,
perhaps it's not all bad news. The Independent. newspaper run a daily feature
called The Ten Best. This can look at anything at all from holidays to books, to
fashion to food. Recently, it offered the ten best Halloween recipes for
children. The list was rather surprising for included amongst recipes like
Heavenly burgers, Easy Bolognese sauce, Teddy Bear fairy cakes and Traffic light
lollies was Honey and Soy salmon skewers, not an immediately obvious choice. The
recipe itself was simple enough. Cut 300g of salmon fillet into cubes. Marinate
the salmon for 30 minutes in a mix of a tablespoon of honey, a tablespoon of soy
and a tablespoon of sesame oil. Thread onto pre-soaked wooden skewers and put on
a hot grill for 2 to 3 minutes each side.
Maybe we should be encouraged that at least there are efforts to persuade the future generations to try fish and seafood so that our industry can also have a future.
The
race is on: Kontali Analyse have told
IntraFish that Norway will set a new world record for salmon production this
year. Lars Liabo estimates that together with trout, Norway will slaughter about
580,000 tonnes during 2003. This is about 100,000 tonnes higher than the
previous highest harvest carried out by Chile in 2001. According to IntraFish,
Norwegian farmers then criticised the Chilean industry for over-producing.
Clearly, this was not the case, as output continues to rise.
This
current Norwegian harvest is expected to be the peak as some of the fish now
being harvested are part of the reserves for next year. This excessive slaughter
is being blamed on the banks in an attempt to recover some of their losses.
Mr
Liabo is unable to place a figure on Chile’s expected growth but he believes
that this year, the harvest will be similar to that in Norway, but then Chile is
projected to surge ahead and displace Norway as number one producing nation.
We,
at Callander McDowell, believe that this focus on production volumes is
irrelevant. Salmon farming is not a race; it is a commercial venture in which
profitability not volume is important. Whilst we believe that salmon farming has
the capacity to become a major source of fish protein to the marketplace, it
does not have to be this week or even next year. What is important is that the
salmon industry is profitable otherwise despite the huge scale of production; it
may not have a sustainable future. The marketplace will look to other suppliers
if production is interrupted because farms are no longer commercially viable.
The emphasis must move away from production to profitability, in much the same
way that the salmon industry needs to adopt more market-led strategies rather
than rely on those, which are more production-led.
Does
it matter that Norway is no longer the number one salmon producing nation. Of
course it does not. This is a global industry working in a global market.
National production is largely irrelevant scale wise. After all’ Norway would
be expected to produce more than Scotland because it has more potential sites.
Chile has an even greater capacity so production is inevitably going to exceed
production elsewhere. Yet much more importantly, the global marketplace exceeds
the capacity of Chile and Norway both together. The salmon industry should
concentrate on supplying this market and doing so whilst it continues to make
profits.
Will
the last one out turn off the lights?:
Discussions continue as to whether the lack of investment threatens to
strangle the fledgling cod farming industry. IntraFish interviewed Alistair
Barge, Chairman of the British Marine Finfish Association, who said that unless
there is some help soon, the lights will go out before they even get started
with such new species.
However,
we, at Callander McDowell, wonder whether it is the new industry itself, which
is stifling development rather than any lack of support from authorities and
other organisations. This is because the new marine fish farming industry
appears to lack any real direction. This is because it is unclear whether the
move to cod farming is for real commercial reasons or as an attempt to help
beleaguered salmon farmers overcome ongoing low salmon prices and the
accompanying reduced profitability.
It
was not long after salmon prices first collapsed that agencies, such as
Highlands & Islands Enterprise, suggested that salmon farmers should
diversify production into other species to ease the pressure on farm incomes.
This is why there were renewed efforts to commercialise cod and haddock farming.
Yet,
it is likely that any investors and financiers would only be interested in cod
farming if were a sound commercial business, not because it might be considered
to be a panacea for the problems of the salmon farming industry. Equally,
potential investors are likely to be deterred exactly because of the problems of
the salmon industry. If salmon farmers have experienced difficulties in
maintaining profitability, then is cod farming going to suffer the same
problems. Investors could be right to be wary.
However,
if the move to cod farming is based on a viable commercial proposal, then
potential investors are more likely to be convinced to stump up the necessary
finance. Perhaps, this has yet to be proven.
We,
at Callander McDowell, accept that the new cod industry is most likely to
develop out of the existing aquaculture industry, but it does not make sense to
seek alternatives just because of the current state of the salmon farming
industry. Salmon farmers need to address the problems first and improve their
profitability. Once incomes improve, salmon farmers can then invest in these new
opportunities in the knowledge that they can overcome any similar problems with
cod. Most importantly, they will be able to invest in cod and other marine fish
simply because it is a sound commercial decision.
Until
then, the switch for those lights could well be in either the on or off
position.