Global Resources and Market Impacts on U . S . Pacific Northwest Fisheries

Fish and fishery products represent a dynamic sector of the world’s global food economy. Changes in supply, market demands and fishery regulations have major impacts on regional fisheries in the U.S. Many small and mid-size fishing operations have been adversely affected by these changes and have undertaken different strategies to overcome economic hardships and survive in the global marketplace. This paper will discuss two such fisheries in the Pacific Northwest, the Pacific salmon and troll-caught albacore fisheries, and show how they have met the challenges of globalization. The Pacific salmon fishery was adversely affected by the rapid increase in farmed salmon supplies throughout the 1990s. They have waged a successful campaign to differentiate their product, wild-caught salmon from farmed salmon. This has occurred through the help of government and private funding marketing campaigns as well as an uneasy alliance with conservation groups who see farmed salmon as environmentally unsustainable. The West Coast troll-caught albacore industry suffered economic hardships in the late 1990s as large tuna canneries shifted resource purchases to foreign fishing operations that were expanding in the Southern Pacific oceans. This forced the regional industry to develop new markets, improve onboard handling and quality, and brand their product differently from the traditional canned markets. This paper will discuss different global trends in the seafood industry and their impacts on rural coastal fisheries in the Pacific Northwest. Different examples of branding, marketing and responding to market changes have helped mitigate some of the negative impacts. The need for working cooperatively for both resource utilization and marketing is becoming more critical for small and mid-size enterprises to survive and prosper in a global economy.