Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue aims to supplement the existing literature by focusing on the challenges, dilemmas and opportunities related to the utilization of marine resources throughout value chains from catch to consumer and in line with sustainability goals at the national and supranational level. In 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations assessed that almost 90% of all marine fish stocks were fully fished or overfished, and thus urged states to manage fisheries in a biologically sustainable way. Accordingly, the FAO encouraged states to utilize fish stocks to contribute to the nutritional, social and economic value of fish, where preserving quality throughout the value chain, from catch to consumer, is paramount.

Several dilemmas are present at the harvest end of the value chain. For example, differences in fishing gear, varying catch efficiency and costs provide fish of different quality, which obtain different prices, implying that trade-offs between quality, price and costs may be present. Should policy-makers steer for profitability and move quotas to the most cost-effective vessels or vessel groups, at the expense of vessels that provide better quality and higher potential for value-adding in downstream markets, but have higher costs and lower profitability? This is an interesting dilemma in policy which has received little attention in previous research. At the same time, a focus on fish quality and value-adding may be at odds with the United Nations’s sustainability goal number 2; zero hunger, which implies nutritious and affordable food produced at the lowest possible costs. This indicates a dilemma for nations and value chains seeking to generate maximum value from limited fish stocks.

Harvesting at low trophic levels may provide species that have low market value and may contribute to the goal of zero hunger. However, some of these species are also potential sources of feed for farmed fish. They are also a very important food source for larger predatory fish in the ocean.

Accordingly, relevant research questions are: Should we harvest at a low-trophic level? How should this raw material be used—should we aim to prevent hunger, using it as cheap feed for fish farming, or should we avoid harvesting in order to secure feed for more valuable species at higher trophic levels?

The organization and performance of ex-vessel markets are also important for the sustainable use of limited marine resources. With direct sales, market power and asymmetric information may distort the price–quality relationship and lead to less than optimal use of resources, an issue which has not been given much attention in the literature. Fish auction markets may also be less efficient than predicted by theory. Why? To what extent should authorities intervene in ex-vessel markets to facilitate more efficient markets?

The EU Green Deal aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. A part of this is the farm-to-fork strategy, which addresses the challenges of sustainable food systems. One of these challenges is consumer behavior: How can we shift consumer dietary behavior to a more sustainable direction? What are the barriers to this? Consumers are presented with an increasing number of communication cues focusing on sensory characteristics, healthiness, environmental and social sustainability, origin, convenience, etc. Which of these cues have the highest impact on consumer choices? Does environmental and social sustainability labelling and information influence consumers as intended? Do consumers understand what ecolabels mean?

We seek research applying diverse research methods, including detailed case studies and econometric modeling of fisheries management systems, fisher behavior and fisher–processor interactions, as well as the performance of ex-vessel markets, to further our understanding of factors influencing sustainable resource use. We also encourage ethnographic and survey-based consumer research as well as novel methods such as eye-tracking to examine consumers’ in-store choices, focusing on the role of sustainability claims, ecolabels and quality cues. Studies on barriers to and drivers of sustainable consumer behavior related to seafood are also welcome. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Dilemmas between sustainability goals and fishery management and regulation;
• Trade-offs in fishery management such as costs and efficiency versus price and quality;
• Species at low trophic levels: harvest for food or feed for fish farming or leave as food for more valuable spieces?;
• Market performance at the ex-vessel level with a focus on quality–price relationships and auction markets versus direct sales;
• The environmental footprint in seafood value chains;
• Waste and drivers of waste in seafood value chains;
• Fisher behavior, fishery management and sustainability;
• Fishery management and effects on coastal communities;
• Carbon footprint, how to best reduce footprint in harvest;
• Consumer preferences regarding fish products;
• Closing the gap between attitude and behavior related to sustainable seafood consumption;
• Moving consumers’ dietary behavior towards a more sustainable direction;
• Consumers and efficient fish product quality and sustainability cues;
• Social responsibility in seafood value chains.

Dr. Geir Sogn-Grundvåg
Dr. Themistoklis Altintzoglou
Dr. Dengjun Zhang
Dr. Bent Dreyer
Guest Editors

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• sustainability goals
• seafood
• fishery management
• fish quality
• market performance
• ecolabelling
• consumer behavior
• cost–benefit analysis of ecolabelling