Lessons from the Mediterranean marine fish

farming: Strategies with Competition

Hervé Lucien-Brun
Jefo Aquaculture consultant
EU AND THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA
>  European countries:
>  Spain
>  France
>  Italy
>  Slovenia
>  Croa6a
>  Greece
>  Malta
>  Cyprus

>  Non European countries: >  Egypt

>  Bosnia >  Israel
>  Montenegro >  Libya
>  Albania >  Tunisia
>  Turkey >  Algeria
>  Syria >  Morocco
>  Lebanon
FISH FARMING PRODUCTION IN THE EU

700 000 T

600 000 T

500 000 T

400 000 T

300 000 T

200 000 T

100 000 T

0T
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015

UTD. KINGDOM GREECE SPAIN ITALY FRANCE DENMARK

POLAND CZECH REPUBLIC GERMANY HUNGARY FINLAND IRELAND
SWEDEN CROATIA NETHERLANDS PORTUGAL CYPRUS AUSTRIA
MAIN SPECIES OF MARINE FISH FARMED
IN MEDITERRANEAN SEA

>  EUROPEAN SEA BASS

(DICENTRARCHUS LABRAX)

>  GILT-HEAD BREAM (SPARUS

AURATA)

>  MEAGRE OR CROAKER

(ARGYROSOMUS REGIUS)
HISTORY OF THE PRODUCTION OF MARINE FISHES
REARED IN EUROPE

180 000 T

160 000 T

140 000 T

120 000 T

100 000 T

80 000 T

60 000 T

40 000 T

20 000 T

0T

00

06

09
3
70

94

2
88
85
76

82
79

97
73

91

1
20

20

20

20

20
19

19

19
19

19

19

19

19

19

19

Sea bass (Dicentrarchus labras) Guilted seabream (Sparus aurata)

 PRODUCTION OF FINGERLINGS IN EU AND TURKEY
Production of seabass fingerlings in EU & Turkey
250 000

200 000
‘000 Fingerlings

150 000

100 000

50 000

0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

GREECE FRANCE ITALY SPAIN CYPRUS CROATIA TURKEY

Production of seabream fingerlings in EU & Turkey

300 000

250 000

200 000
‘000 Fingerlings

150 000

100 000

50 000

0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Sources: FEAP 2016
GREECE FRANCE ITALY SPAIN CYPRUS CROATIA TURKEY
PRODUCTION OF SEABASS IN NORTHERN
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
TOTAL EU 77 589 T 78 129 T 75 991 T 74 907 T 75 835 T 69 241 T 76 505 T 73 714 T 81 479 T
TURKEY 41 900 T 49 270 T 46 554 T 50 796 T 47 013 T 65 512 T 67 912 T 74 653 T 77 000 T

80 000 T

70 000 T

60 000 T

50 000 T

40 000 T

30 000 T

20 000 T

10 000 T

0T
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

GREECE SPAIN ITALY CROATIA FRANCE CYPRUS TURKEY

Sources: FEAP 2016
PRODUCTION OF SEABREAM IN NORTHERN
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
TOTAL EU 117 346 T 134 201 T 130 893 T 110 987 T 97 188 T 107 656 T 110 087 T 104 594 T 99 649 T
TURKEY 33 500 T 31 670 T 28 362 T 28 157 T 32 187 T 30 743 T 35 701 T 41 873 T 48 000 T

100 000 T

90 000 T

80 000 T

70 000 T

60 000 T

50 000 T

40 000 T

30 000 T

20 000 T

10 000 T

0T
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

GREECE SPAIN ITALY CROATIA CYPRUS FRANCE TURKEY

Sources: FEAP 2016

PRODUCTION OF MEAGRE IN NORTERN
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
TOTAL EU 1 407 T 1 821 T 2 165 T 3 908 T 3 750 T 2 430 T 1 670 T 1 740 T 2 156 T
TURKEY 3 281 T 2 000 T

3 500 T

3 000 T

2 500 T

2 000 T

1 500 T

1 000 T

500 T

0T
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2103 2014 2015

SPAIN FRANCE ITALY CROATIA TURKEY

Sources: FEAP 2016
FARMING TECHNIQUES
FARMING TECHNIQUES
EVOLUTION OF THE MARKETS

>  INITIALLY MOST OF THE FARMED FISH WAS SOLD TO

THE ITALIAN MARKET WITH VERY HIGH PRICE.

>  MOST OF THE FISH WERE COMMERCIALIZED AS

WHOLE FISH, USUALLY AT THE ‘’PORTION’’ SIZE
(300G-500G)
>  THE FARMED PRODUCTION OF SEABASS AND
SEABREAM INCREASED AT A RATE OF 30 % PER
YEAR BETWEEN 1992 AND 2002 WHICH INDUCED A
DRAMATIC FALL OF THE PRICES
>  THE EX-FARM PRICES OF BOTH SPECIES
DECREASED BY APPROXIMATELY 60%
BETWEEN 1990 AND 2000 AND ARE STILL
DECREASING
EVOLUTION OF GREEK SEABASS & SEABREAM PRICES
IN ITALY
IMPACT ON THE FINANCIAL SITUATION OF
THE FISH FARMERS

>  BUSINESS BANKRUPTCIES, EVEN AMONG THE MOST IMPORTANT

>  CONSIDERABLE INDEBTEDNESS, SOMETIMES EQUIVALENT TO

SEVERAL YEARS OF TURNOVER

>  STATE SUPPORT, ESPECIALLY IN NON-EU COUNTRIES, SUCH AS

TURKEY

>  SOME GROUP OF PRODUCERS, WITH THE SUPPORT OF BANKS,

HAVE CAUSED VOLUNTARY DUMPING TO TAKE THE MARKET OF
COMPETITORS AND CAUSE THEIR BANKRUPTCY
 HOW HAVE PRODUCERS
REPONDED TO THIS SITUATION?
REDUCTION OF FIXED COSTS

>  CONSOLIDATION OF FARMS BY REPURCHASE OF OTHER

>  THE NUMBER OF COMPANIES PRODUCING MARINE FISH IN
MEDITERRANEAN SEA FALL FROM 430 TO LESS THAN 40
TODAY:
>  In Turkey, KILIC DENIZ increases its production by 26% between 2004 to 2014.
They produce 30% of the Turkish seabream and 12% of the seabass. They have
a production capacity of 394 millions fingerlings in 46 hatcheries. They export
to 40 countries
>  In Greece, NIREUS is one of the main European producer. SELONDA owns 46
farms, 5 hatcheries and several unit of distribution
>  In Spain, the Canadian group COOK had bought, one of the major company;
CULAMREX, in 2011 with 11 sea farm and one packing plant.
>  In France, one company, GLORIA MARIS, produces almost 80% of the French
farmed marine fish
REDUCTION OF FIXED COSTS BY THE INTEGRATION

INTEGRATION OF ALL THE STEP OF THE PRODUCTION, FOR

EXAMPLE:

> KILLIC in Turkey owns the hatcheries, the nursery, the on

growing farms but also the feed mills, the processing plant,
transformation units and the commercialization units,

> GLORIA MARIS in France operate farms, hatcheries,

processing units and distribution

> CROMARIS increases its hatchery to double the fingerlings

production from 15 to 30 millions, owns nursery, on growing
farms and also a transformation unit ,
MARKETING OF THE BRAND

Brand iden6fica6on of the products

MARKETING OF THE ORIGIN
Iden6fica6on of the product
> Country of produc6on
DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PRODUCTS

>  Produc6on of big size fish, over 3 to 6 Kg

>  File6ng fish
>  Product under modified atmosphere
>  Frozen product
>  Cannery, …


  






 
    

 
   

 
 
  

 
 
  

 
 
   

  

 
   

 

    

 
    

DIVERSIFICATION TO NEW SPECIES

>  Several companies produces new species, as Meagre, Dentex, Pink

Bream, Turbot or even Tuna
>  These new species are not important important of volumes compare to
the seabass or the seabream but permit to propose a a range of products
which is important for the supermarket chains
MARKETING THE QUALITY

>  Promotional campaign with direct participation of

farmers to win consumer's trust
>  Communication on the impact of the framing
practices on the fish quality and taste
>  Superior taste awards
>  TV show with well recognized chefs
>  Diffusion of the list of prestigious clients
IMPROVING THE PRODUCTS QUALITY

>  Improving the freshness of the

products by
!  Shortening the time between
slaughter to conditioning
!  Shortening the logistic between farm
to market
>  Shortening the distribution chain by
Improving the distribution to the
nearby markets and even the direct
sales to the local consumers, as
CSA model
CERTIFICATION
>  KILIC: IFS, BRC, GLOBAL GAP, ISO 22000, ISO 9001,
ISO14 001, ORGANIC, HALAL, ASC

>  CROMARIS: GLOBAL GAP, ORGANIC, FRIEND OF THE

SEA, ISO 14 001, KASHER

>  KEFALONIA: FRIEND OF THE SEA, ORGANIC,

NATURLAND

>  GLORIA MARIS: FRIEND OF THE SEA; LABEL ROUGE

>  NIREUS: GLOBAL GAP

TARGET OF THE CERTIFICATION

>  THE CERTIFICATION COULD PERMIT TO SUPPLY

VERY PROFITABLE NICHE MARKET

>  THE VOLUME OF CERTIFIED PRODUCT MUST BE

ADAPTED TO THE SIZE OF THE NICHE MARKET
TO MAINTAIN HIGH PRICES (EXAMPLE OF OSO IN
MADAGASCAR)

>  ONLY CERTIFY PRODUCTS FOR THESE NICHE

MARKETS. MOST OF THE TIME, CONVENTIONAL
MARKETS WOULD NOT ADD VALUE TO THE
LABEL
DEVELOPMENT OF NEW MARKETS
MARKET DEVELOPMENT IN NORTHERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES:
UK; GERMANY, BELGIUM, HOLLAND, IRELAND OR POLAND
EXPORT TO NEW DESTINATIONS:
>  Russia,
>  United Arab Emirates
>  USA
CONCLUSION
>  THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRODUCTION MUST BE DONE
CONSIDERING THE DEMAND SPECIFICATIONS IN TERMS OF
VOLUME AND QUALITY
>  THE DROP OF PRICES IS A COLLECTIVE DREADLOCK WHICH
LEADS TO THE MARKET DESTRUCTION
>  AFTER CONTROLLING COSTS, THE POSSIBLE WAY TO FIND
AGAIN MARKET GROWTH ARE:
" Branded products with differentiation based on the origin, quality
and/or certification with strict specifications conform to customer
demands
" Communication to consumers
" Segmentation of the markets and prospecting new ones
" Developing new products:
-  New species and/or bigger sizes
-  more adapted to new cooking practices
 THANK YOU
VERY MUCH!