Competition between Different Farmed and Wild Species: The US Tilapia Market

This article is an extension of previous work on tilapia in the US market (Norman-López and Asche 2008). This study investigates the degree of market integration between fresh farmed tilapia fillets and fresh fillets of farmed catfish, wild sea dab, wild blackback flounder, and wild whole fresh red snapper in the US market. The literature suggests farmed and wild fish of alternative species do not compete. However, this may be changing as new farmed species are introduced to new markets. The results indicate no relationship between prices of fresh tilapia and catfish. Hence, there is no evidence that fresh tilapia fillets compete in the same market as catfish fillets. Conversely, fresh farmed tilapia fillets compete with wild whole red snapper, wild fresh fillets of sea dab, and blackback flounder. The implications are important for managing these overexploited wild fish species, as prices will most likely decline with increased imports of fresh tilapia fillets. This could lead to lower investments in fishing fleets and a reduction in fishing effort over time.