Sustaining Consumer Confidence in Middle East Aquaculture Secured by Traceability Systems

Abstract

Abstract:In recent years, aquaculture is the fastest growing protein supply for consumers in the Middle East countries. The aquaculture production in the region increased by 111% from 837 247 to 1 768 917 tons between 2005 and 2014. Egypt, Iran and Turkey are the leading countries in aquaculture production but Saudi Arabia, Oman and United Arab Emirates have vast investment plans for future aquaculture projects as the others in the region. Middle East aquaculture still need to grow by nearly 20% to match the regional demand for seafood which is average 12,55 kg fish per capita. This huge necessity for growth raises doubts in regional consumers on the sustainability of aquaculture production.Sustainable aquaculture systems are being accepted as environmental friendly, profitable, productive and social. But the sustainability is not a measurable entity itself and its analysis relies on indirect criteria or indicators. Traceability is an important indicator that sustains consumer confidence on aquaculture products.There's an increasing trend on the market for traceability of capture and aquaculture products. Therefore, many countries are developing various solutions for monitoring the aquaculture market. Turkey is one of these countries who's developing computer-based monitoring systems for fisheries and aquaculture production.In this study, acceptance, progress, and the difficulties in transition to new monitoring system and the prospective contribution of traceability systems on consumer confidence have been investigated in example of Turkey.

Aquaculture State, Challenges and Technologies in the Middle East

“…In the ME, aquaculture is one of the fastest growing sectors, largely due to the highest product traceability standards and safety, rigorous biosecurity, and state-of-theart technology. The aquaculture production of ME has increased speedily from 837,247 tonnes in 2005 to 1,768,917 tonnes in 2014, with an approximate of 111% increment, and has been predicted to increase to 2.4 million tonnes in near future (Tolon, 2017).…”

Orta Doğu ve Türkiye’de İçsu Ürünleri Avcılığı ve Yetiştiriciliğinin Bugünkü Durumu ve Geleceğe Dair Tahminler

“…Balık Kaynak Geliştirme Genel Kurulu'nun verdiği destekler sayesinde son 10 yılda yetiştiricilik sektörü önem kazanmıştır (Şekil 2). Tolon (2017), son yıllarda Orta Doğu ülkelerinde protein talebini en hızlı karşılayan sektörün, su ürünleri yetiştiricilik sektörü olduğunu bildirmiştir. Bu nedenle Suudi Arabistan, Umman, Katar gibi birçok Orta Doğu hükümeti özellikle su ürünleri yetiştiriciliğinin yapılması için destek vermektedir (Globefish 2011).…”

Su Ürünlerinde İzlenebilirliğin Pazarlamadaki Önemi

“…Sürdürülebilirlik ve analizi dolaylı kriterlere veya göstergelere dayanmaktadır. Oysa izlenebilirlik su ürünleri ürünlerine yönelik tüketici güveni sağlamada önemli bir göstergedir [13].…”