While commercial production of marine finfish has grown globally, in the United States there has been little growth in this sector other than for salmon and redfish. The supply of 20 emerging marine finfish (almaco jack, Atlantic cod, black drum, black sea bass, California flounder, California yellowtail, cobia, Florida pompano, olive flounder, red drum, sablefish, spotted seatrout, striped bass, tripletail, white seabass, and wolffish) was analyzed . These species were aggregated into the following categories based on the degree of consumer recognition in the U.S.: 1) well-recognized in the U.S. market, 2) well-recognized in regional U.S. markets on the East and Gulf Coast, 3) well-recognized in regional U.S. markets on the West Coast, and 4) largely unknown in U.S. markets.
In 2019, total commercial supply of these 20 species (commercial landings & farmed ) was only 81 million pounds; about 23 % of the total 2019 production of the U.S. catfish industry. C ommercial landings for 17 of the 20 species have declined, potentially offering windows of opportunity for farmed product to capture previous demand for these species. Aquaculture is advantageous for these species because it can supply a consistent and uniform supply to the market regardless of the time of year, something that commercial landings are unable to achieve. Nevertheless, the generally low volumes of current effective demand for these species indicates that farms seeking to raise and sell these fish would be limited to a relatively small scale because of limited demand. Smaller farms typically have higher costs of production and require sales into high-end niche markets to capture premium prices . Successful U.S. farming businesses for these species will attract competition from imported products of the same or similar species. Potential entrepreneurs will need to be prepared to remain competitive with increasing pressure from imported product.
Future work on this project hopes to uncover potential market price points and cost of production for these 20 species. There also needs to be an emphasis on collecting species-specific data on imports of these species for farmers to plan and adjust their business strategies accordingly.
In summary, the low current effective demand for these species will likely mean that farmers will need to initially target upscale, premium-priced markets . An identifiable brand, consistent supply and consumer loyalty will be important keys for success . Partnerships with distributors, restaurants, supermarkets, and wholesalers may be helpful to jointly develop expanded markets and sales over time.