reLAKSation 65.
A resounding success?: The Salmon Farm Protest Group have declared their little demonstration last Saturday to be a resounding success, but then they would, wouldn’t they?
The organisers hoped that there would be individual protests outside a variety of supermarkets at about 100 locations, but whilst they have publicised the demonstrations, which occurred in Edinburgh and Aberdeen, details of the others are limited. It would seem that those protests, which have been reported, occurred outside Marks & Spencers and not at any of the other main supermarket chains. This is not surprising since Marks & Spencers tend to have a city centre location, whilst other supermarkets are more typically sited within their own dedicated area. Protest groups would have had easier access to demonstrate outside Marks & Spencer than they would outside the other supermarkets, which are within their own private grounds. Any protestors standing outside the entrance of any of these supermarkets could have been asked to leave and thus, unable to pass their message onto consumers.
Whilst, we at Callander McDowell, did not get to many of the listed sites, we were unable to actually locate any of the protest groups. If this was repeated elsewhere, then it is likely that the protest was not the resounding success, as the organisers have claimed.
Intrafish also appear to be unsure about the success of the protest, suggesting that the protestor’s message was rather confused. Intrafish enquired at the information desk within Marks & Spencers and found that whilst there had been no questions at the Aberdeen store, only two enquiries had been raised at the Edinburgh store.
The reality is that most consumers trust the supermarkets at which they shop to provide food, which is safe and of the highest possible quality. If problems do arise, Government departments and the retailers are usually quick to act. Most consumers would recognise that the organisers of this protest have both their own agenda and self-interest. If there were any real concerns, then supermarkets would put their customers first and remove product from the shelves. The fact that they don’t is endorsement of the ability of our industry to produce the salmon that consumers want to buy.
Getting the facts right!: It would be possible to have more respect for the protestors if when they argued their case, they actually got their facts rights. One of the questions posed on their website (www.salmonfarmmonitor.org) asks why don’t supermarkets label salmon as being farmed salmon?
The answer given states that consumer attitudes to farmed seafood has shown the public prefers wild fish. In view of the ‘additives’ etc, they say it is not difficult to see why consumers do not trust farmed fish. They also say that this explains why supermarkets are reluctant to provide clear labelling.
Yet, they are wrong. All the supermarkets now clearly label farmed salmon as such. However, not only are the fish labelled as farmed, they are also labelled with the country of origin.
This question is also linked to an article, which appeared in the Sunday Herald back in March. Written by food campaigner Jonna Blythman, it highlights the research by Seafish, which shows that some descriptors influence consumers more favourably than others. Thus, wording like “reared in cold clear Scottish waters” may induce consumers to more readily buy farmed salmon than the words “Farmed in Scotland”
The protestors have implied that consumers have to be hoodwinked by fancy wording to be persuaded to buy farmed salmon. However, yet again the protestors are wrong. The majority of supermarkets label their salmon as “Farmed in …….”. Only two use the fancy descriptors on their labels and both of these supermarkets are at the top end of the marketplace. No doubt they use the flowery wording to justify the higher prices they charge for their salmon as compared to that charged by the mainstream supermarket groups.
Consumers reading the other questions posed by the Protest Group, have no idea whether the fish they buy contains pesticides or not. They have no way of measuring whether the answers given are correct or not. However, in the case of labelling, consumers can see for themselves that supermarkets label their salmon correctly and therefore are able to gauge the accuracy of the claims made by the protestors.
This is a lesson that the industry would do well to learn.
Catastrophe or opportunity?: Landings of North Sea cod have fallen from 341,000 tonnes in 1972 to a current low of 41,000 tonnes. According to Intrafish, Robin Cook, Director of the Fisheries Research Service has warned that a collapse of North Sea stocks was almost inevitable unless drastic measures, such as a total ban, are taken.
Only a total ban would allow stocks time to recover, although evidence from the Canadian Grand Banks would suggest that such a recovery might not be readily forthcoming as there may be irreversible changes to the ecosystem. In addition supplies of other whitefish species could be curtailed, as fishermen are unable to distinguish the various species as they fish. This would mean that any ban is extended across the whole range of whitefish species.
This is clearly a catastrophe for fish stocks and the fishing communities, which depend on them. It is estimated that up to 20,000 fishing jobs could be lost.
Yet, how desperate this loss of fish and jobs, the fact is that it also creates an opportunity for the aquaculture industry.
There might be an argument that there should be rapid investment in cod farming to compensate for the loss. Yet as Intrafish recently reported, viable cod farming still has many hurdles to overcome. It may be some years before aquaculture can supply the volumes of cod to the consumer at a price they want to pay. Meanwhile consumers may seek other meal choices and these may not even be fish.
If the aquaculture industry is to grab this opportunity and meet the shortfall in supply, it needs to do so now, with a fish priced at the mass marketplace. Fortunately, the aquaculture industry has such a fish – salmon.
Whilst some sections of the industry complain about over-production, dumping and cheap imports, let us hope that those with a wider vision recognise that there is a huge market opportunity to be exploited. Salmon has already become the most popular fish alongside cod. The industry should now capitalise on this opportunity so that salmon becomes the fish of choice for most consumers.