World Food Policy Volume/Issue 2-2/3-1 Fall 2015/Spring 2016 | Page 36
Developing Local Sustainable Seafood Markets: A Thai Example
(c) set up channels for disseminating
information and educating the public
about marine conservation. Within the
seven small-scale fisher groups, 66 fishers
contributed 50,000 THB (~1500 USD1,
or just over 22 USD each) to the startup of the Shop. The Shop also received
significant budget support from Oxfam
and investment from the Federation
of Thai Fisherfolk Association. When
the Shop was envisioned, stakeholders
thought that seafood could be sourced
exclusively from those fishers who
initially contributed to the development
of the Shop based upon the seasonality of
their product.
The methodological approach of
our ar ticle is twofold: (a) case-specific
research with fishers, Shop employees,
and consumers and (b) an assessment of
Shop procurement and sales practices to
assess the economic viability of the Shop.
Data collection included conducting
interviews with consumers buying
Shop seafood (n=12), key informant
interviews with Shop staff (n=3) and with
fishers (n=31), a focus group with fishers
(n=6), and an analysis of Shop receipts
detailing procurement of seafood and
consumer sales from June 2014 to May
2015 (5371 receipts). Purchasing and
sales data enabled us to gain a detailed
understanding of the amount of seafood
purchased, processed, and sold in Year 1
of Shop operations. Two of the authors
also engaged in participant observation
with fishers and Shop employees,
complimented by time in Bangkok
helping to sell Shop fish in the Spring and
Summer of 2015.
Key
informant
interview
questions with fishers and Shop
employees centered around five themes:
background of involvement, knowledge
of the Shop, operation of the Shop, supply
chain management, and sustainability of
the Shop. Consumer interviews, which
focused on purchasing behavior, seafood
consumption, and perceptions of the
Shop, were carried out in two ways: (a)
through random selection from the
Shop’s LINE account—a smart phone
application that allows consumers to
subscribe to the Shop’s group, view
product, and place orders—after which,
participants were spoken with via video
conference call (n=5) or telephone (n=3);
and (b) face-to-face interviews (n=4)
with consumers as they were purchasing
Shop fish at a small urban farm in central
Bangkok. A preliminary reflection of the
characteristics of urban consumers who
purchase Shop seafood suggests that
consumers are largely female, single, with
an undergraduate education, living with
two or three people in the household.
Results
Seafood caught by local fishers
W
hile seven small-scale fishing
groups supply the majority
of seafood to the Shop, key
informant interviews focused on one
1
Currency is converted from Thai Baht to United States Dollar using the average exchange rate (1
THB = 0.03 USD) for the duration of the study period (June 2014–October 2015).
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