Aquaculture Situation and Outlook: Marketing

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Aquaculture Situation and Outlook Marketing

• Sid Dasgupta
• Kentucky State University

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General Information

• Aquaculture in Kentucky is mostly small scale
• This usually means small volume of production,
  and breakeven prices that are higher than
  wholesale prices
• Many aquaculture products are also seasonally
  available (Sept-Oct)
• Some products are often very specialized, and do
  not represent products consumed everyday (e.g.,
  prawns, crayfish, etc.)
• Products can be available fresh or live

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What are the products?

• Channel catfish (around 800 tons/year)
• Freshwater prawn (40 - 60 tons/year)
• Largemouth bass (around 53 tons/year)
• Other products available at very low volumes
• Paddlefish
• Hybrid striped bass
• Rainbow trout (1 producer festival sales)
• Australian red claw crayfish (2nd year trials)

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What are the current markets?

• Catfish
• Available from 2 sources, (1) PAAC, (2)
  independent small farms
• PAAC catfish is sold to a major grocery chain,
  some paylakes, local restaurants, and a local
  wholesaler
• Catfish from independent farms are used for home
  consumption, local sales and some paylake sales
• Negligible profits at the farm level for sales to
  processor
• Missed opportunities 1) local Asian grocers for
  live and fresh sales, 2) low density farming for
  paylakes, 3) farmers markets, 4) smoked
  catfish other value-added products

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What are the current markets?

• Freshwater prawn
• Available from small farms (150) all over KY
• Most prawns are sold at the pond bank, some sold
  in restaurants(5.50-7.00/lb)
• Some prawns are processed frozen (4 processing
  sites in KY)
• Some have tried small festivals and Asian
  wholesalers (5.50/lb)
• Missed opportunities 1) farmers markets, 2)
  value-added products, 3) year-round festivals.
• If properly managed, pond bank and festivals
  sales could account for all of KYs prawn
  production

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What are the current markets?

• Largemouth bass
• Food fish available from 1 farm only (35 water
  ac)
• Live fish sales to an Asian live hauler from
  Toronto
• There seems to be more demand than supply
• Another bass farm produces 1 lb fish for pond
  stocking (5 per fish)
• Missed opportunities 1) local Asian grocers for
  live and fresh sales, 2) paylakes (catfish is the
  preferred product, but there might be a market
  for bass)

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Other markets?

• Hybrid striped bass
• Wholesale market exists in the east coast
  (2.20-2.50/lb)
• Illinois is the local leading supplier to the
  east coast
• Red claw crayfish
• Local restaurants and fish retail grocer
  appreciate this product (4 count or bigger)
  Price 7 - 8/lb
• Paddlefish
• Restaurants like fresh fillet
• Possible market for smoked product

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Marketing problems

• Some restaurants stopped featuring local prawn
  due to high price, small size, and the meat was
  too soft (or mushy)
• Several restaurants and grocers featuring smoked
  paddlefish have discontinued sales because of
  quality problems

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Recommendations

• For small scale marketing to succeed, the product
  must be top quality
• The product must be unusual but attractive (
  large prawns, red claw crayfish and paddlefish)
• Production costs must be under control, i.e.,
  prawn and crayfish nurseries are essential and so
  is a commercial paddlefish hatchery