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Food-System of Tuna Industry: Market Distortions in Canning and Sashimi Markets

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  • In this paper, we illustrate characteristics of food system of tuna by making a bird’s-eye view of tuna trade and global distribution. Tuna resources are primarily consumed as canned tuna or Sashimi (=raw fish). The fishing methods and species predetermine the food system of the caught fish. Among seven tuna species that FAO Fishstat identifies, Bluefin, Southern Bluefin and Bigeye tunas are solely consumed as Sashimi, and therefore mostly exported to Japan. These tuna species are not worth fishing commercial resources unless they are purchased by Japanese. If we view Japanese consumers as a unique buyer, the market structure is characterized as a monopsony. Moreover, if the tuna is frozen, the product will be rocked in the closed distribution channel where the temperature of the cold-chain is not a standard one, minus 20 degree, but rather an extreme cold, minus 60 degree: such storage does not exist anywhere else. Despite such monopsonistic structure, the export prices of these species are not low compared with other marine products. We will further examine market structure and degree of concentration of world sashimi market. Other two species, Yellowfin and Albacore, are consumed both as canned product and Sashimi. Export price of Sashimi tuna is more than twice as high as that for canned material. Nevertheless, the supply of tuna to canning sector has not been ended off nor had the resource been depleted yet as a result of competitive catch. It is expected that the difference of fishing/ distribution costs, demanded size, and the risk-return composition influenced the behavior of world tuna fishers and allowed some diversity in fishing methods and distribution. In fact, some fishing enterprises in Taiwan and the Philippines supply to both Sashimi and canning markets. While in Japan, there is no such example. We will examine the rational and sustainability of such co-existence of different distribution channels that share the same tuna resource.
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  • Yamashita, Haruko. 2006. Food-System of Tuna Industry: Market Distortions in Canning and Sashimi Markets. In: Proceedings of the Thirteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics & Trade, July 11-14, 2006, Portsmouth, UK: Rebuilding Fisheries in an Uncertain Environment. Compiled by Ann L. Shriver. International Institute of Fisheries Economics & Trade, Corvallis, Oregon, USA, 2006. CD ROM. ISBN 0-9763432-3-1
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  • The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Marine Fisheries Service, United States Department of Commerce (NOAA Fisheries); United Kingdom Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA); The United States Agency for International Development supported Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Support Program (ACRSP).
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