World Food Policy Volume/Issue 2-2/3-1 Fall 2015/Spring 2016 | Page 42

Developing Local Sustainable Seafood Markets: A Thai Example

mackerel burger. The loss associated with
processing these seven species on the left
of the Y-axis (–86,902.51 THB or 2607.07
USD) outweighs the benefit derived from
those 18 species on the right of the Y-axis
(38,993 THB or 1,169.79 USD). Fried
short-bodied mackerel is one example of
the Shop generating significant revenue
from seafood processing, with 100.30 kg
being sold for a net profit of nearly 250
percent; more time, effort, and resources
should be put into creating such items.

market quality conventions. Consumers
measure market quality in terms of
health and safety, particularly the
absence of chemicals such as formalin
in the production process. Aesthetics,
described as a demand for “beautiful”
fish, and freshness also play a role,
especially for those consumers who
equate freshness with greater nutritional
value. One consumer claimed that
product from the Shop is “more clean and
fresh than at the normal market” (0088).
However, domestic quality conventions
also matters, as one consumer indicated
that they buy from the Shop because they
“know where the product comes from”
(007). The Shop encourages fishers to
travel to Bangkok on a monthly basis to
sell their seafood at local farmers’ market,
enabling fishers to engage in conversation
with consumers and tell of their fishing
practices and way of life.

Consumers were also motivated
by civic quality: wanting to provide
support for local, small-scale fishers
and arguing for “cutting the MP out of
the system of seafood” (005) or wanting
to support conservation efforts (i.e.,
“supporting responsible fishing” (003)
and “ensuring that fishers use only big
nets and do not catch small fish” (002).
This merging of social concerns with
environmental concerns is common,
especially within sustainable food
movements more generally (Olson, Clay,

Consumer interest in Shop seafood
products

Individuals purchasing from the
Shop do so primarily for three reasons:
(a) health and safety; (b) environmental
benefits; and (c) support for small-scale
fishers. We return to conventions theory
as a way to analyze consumer choice in
buying sustainable seafood (Ponte 2016).
The categories of market, industrial,
domestic, civic, and opinion quality7
enable us to analyze socially constructed
norms that lay behind consumer
motives to purchase sustainable seafood
(Campbell and MacRae 2013). Our initial
analysis suggests that consumers support
local sustainable seafood for multiple
reasons.

Three quarters of interviewed
consumers were willing to pay a premium
on locally caught seafood, motivated by

7

The sixth convention of inspirational quality is not drawn on (despite the rising profile of sustainable seafood in Asia) for it is not yet considered a significant factor influencing consumer choice for
sustainable seafood in Thailand.
8
These numbers refer to our key informant interviews, who were guaranteed confidentiality and anonymity. We entered our qualitative data into the software program NVivo.

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