Time for Fishing: Bargaining Power in the Swedish Baltic Cod Fishery

Abstract

A B S T R A C TFishery regulations might not only affect the fleet, but also the relation between fisheries and downstream sectors on the ex-vessel market for fish products. This article estimates the price effects of management reform in the Swedish Baltic Sea cod fishery. In April 2011, as part of a reform process aimed at giving fishers more flexibility, vessels using active gear were given annual non-transferable catch quotas. We examine whether the new management system has altered the bargaining power between fishers and processors in the ex-vessel market for fish. Using a difference-in-differences estimation approach we find that postreform fishers improve their bargaining power and thus are paid a higher price. However, the price increase is small, amounting to around 2% of the pre-reform price.

Price Premiums for Providing Eco‐labelled Seafood: Evidence from MSC‐certified Cod in Sweden

“…There could be several reasons explaining this result. A first is the structure of the Swedish retail and processing industries for food, which are both characterised by large firms with market power (Olofsdotter et al ., ; Blomquist et al ., ). Firms with market power will be able to get the price premium paid by consumers for eco‐labelled fish products at a low cost, thereby having large mark‐ups for these products.…”

The effect of eco-certification on demand: The case of MSC-certified Norway lobster

“…In contrast to other species on the Swedish market for fish, Nephrops are sold on a market with many buyers (mainly in auctions). Hence, there is limited buyer power in the value chain and fishers are therefore expected to receive higher mark-ups from certification than on markets with few buyers, such as the market for cod in southern Sweden (Blomquist et al, 2015b). Interesting is also that there is limited supply of the certified product since the Swedish Nephrops fishery was the first Nephrops fishery in the world to get MSC certified (MSC, 2021) and the fishery is subject to a quota.…”