Of the regional countries in which seabass is sold, Singapore and Australia and to some extent Hong Kong and Brunei stand out as those where there is a deficit of local supply over demand for market-sized fish.
Several countries exhibit the potential to expand production of seabass beyond the requirements of their domestic markets, viz., Thailand and possibly the Philippines; Malaysia and China on the edge of the region are special cases. In Malaysia, states close to Singapore are net exporters whilst those close to Southern Thailand are net importers. Estimates of recent aquaculture production within most regional producing countries are shown in Table 8.
Which markets should be targeted, if any, and what strategies are needed to ensure successful competition in these markets?
First, it is desirable to rule out the least attractive markets to allow a concentration of management attention on the several most promising.
Brunei has an affluent fish-eating population but is too small a market to be of interest to any but the most limited producer. Likewise in Hong Kong, where seabass is in the middle of the price range for live fish, the market is currently too small to justify the development of transportation systems to supply live fish over the 2 000+ mi journey. Chinese pond farms close to Hong Kong already produce enough to supply its limited needs.
There remain two modest sized markets, Singapore and Australia, in close proximity to Indonesia.
Singapore
The Singapore market is already being served by Indonesian producers as well as Malaysia and its own producers, none of them in a particularly dominant position.
The Singapore live market fetches higher prices but the transport of seabass is such that excessive distances may call for expenditure not justified by the returns from sales. The practicality of surface transport from production areas more than 8–10 hours from Singapore would have to be examined with care. However, the Riau islands of P. Batam and P. Bintan are ideally located to service this market from a transport point of view.
Producers on Java would be unlikely to find live transport feasible and should look at the fresh iced market sector. Producers located in intermediate areas could consider the Malaysia system of live well shipment destined for the fresh market which for seabass pays only slightly less than for the live market.
Fish sized up to 1 kg would be acceptable. Shipments of larger fish to the live market are unlikely to prove economical.
Delivered cost and freshness are most important factors in securing a market position for fresh fish; these factors and a regularity of supply will determine success in the live market.
Australia
The Australian market is much less developed than that in Singapore as well as being a very diversified one in that population distribution creates a number of geographically distinct separate markets with different features.
The most attractive markets to approach from a logistical point of view would be those centred in the West Australian capital, Perth. Air freight costs to this market would offer the best differential to those of domestic suppliers based in the northern areas of Queensland and Northern Territory. Chilled fish fetches high prices over the frozen product for plate-sized fish and would establish a market position more easily.
Air cargo capacity is likely to be adequate for the lot sizes anticipated for a single destination such as Perth.
In the longer term, shipment into the frozen market for fish more than 1 kg may be considered via the port of Darwin. Ocean freight rates and travel times to Darwin from Southeast Asia compare very favourably with those to the more popular southern state capitals. Freight trucking services to these destinations from Darwin are well developed and back-cargo rates low enough to allow the dual-mode transport system to deliver into the southern maritime cities faster and cheaper than ocean shipment direct to their ports (Matthewson, personal communication). Darwin is a production centre for Australian domestic barramundi fishery and has processing facilities and wholesalers for this trade.
Domestic production of fish fresh, chilled or frozen, and of fish fillets, frozen, was 8 860 and 1 500 t respectively in 1987 (FAO, 1989). No data were obtained on production of fresh or chilled fish fillets. Production of fresh, chilled or frozen whole fish has dropped markedly from a peak of 15 050 t in 1983 whilst production of frozen fillet tripled in one year (1987) from a steady annual level of about 500–600 t in the preceding five years.
These changes appear to indicate a move towards frozen fillet production rather than whole fish for the domestic market in 1987. The bulk of the fresh, chilled or frozen fish category consists of tunas, 80% in the peak year of 1983. The following trend results for the domestic market:
| 1978 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | |
| Fish frozen excluding fillet and tuna | 1 097 | 2 419 | 3 094 | 2 836 | 4 549 | 3 553 |
| Fish fillets frozen | - | 523 | 423 | 429 | 424 | 1 503 |
(Source: FAO Yearbook of Fishery Statistics, 1987)
It can be assumed that the recent trend towards expanded domestic production of frozen fish and fillets shows an attempt to recapture part of the market for fish dominated by imports. This opportunity has been opened up by a reduction in the value of the Australian currency which has made imported products significantly more expensive. Despite such changes imports will remain an important source of product in view of the limitations and cost of further developing domestic production.
For the frozen market plate-sized barramundi offer the best prospect for entry into the market though it is understood that Southeast Asian product has not been well accepted so far. Market trials will be necessary to establish acceptability. The market for fillets is larger but more competitive, and it is doubtful if cultured seabass of a size sufficient to produce usable fillets would command a high enough price to cover their production cost. This would depend on the culture system used as well as competition from other Southeast Asian producers.
Other export markets for seabass
Priority has been given to investigating those markets physically nearest to Indonesia. Malaysian consumption areas on the opposite side of the Malacca Straits to Sumatra may also be of interest to potential operators in North Sumatra; however, the domestic market there is reportedly tight at present. More distant markets offer prospects worth investigation as potential secondary targets with long-term growth potential. In order of priority these are: Taiwan, USA, Japan and Europe.
Taiwan
Taiwan has a flourishing fishing and aquaculture sector renowned for its quick adaptation of new technology to enhance production and capture export markets.
Rapid economic growth over a long period has led to increases in consumer buying power while an artificially low currency value has favoured exports rather than imports. Relaxation of economic controls in the late 1980s has led to an increased currency value and a change in the terms of trade.
The aquaculture sector was dominated by rapid growth in the mid 1980s in marine shrimp production, particularly for export to Japan. Then, in 1988, disease and water quality problems reached a crisis and annual shrimp yield fell sharply. Farmers have reacted to such problems by converting to other cultures in particular towards marine fishes like Epinephelus malabaricus (grouper), seabass, mangrove snapper and black porgy (INFOFISH International No. 4/89:p. 31), all considered Chinese delicacies.
While some of the fish produced is reported to have reached the Hong Kong live market (Wong, personal communication), certain industry sources consider current production insufficient to satisfy domestic demands (Chen, personal communication).
In 1989 Taiwan buyers attempted to source seabass seed in Indonesia. This is probably because seabass cannot be pond-grown in the winter due to low temperatures and ponds must restock swiftly as temperatures rise to obtain optimum yield.
The prospects for exports of market or near-market size seabass are likely to be seasonal and dependent on low cost transport.
USA
Prospects for the export of a range of exotic species into the US seafood market have been outlined by Coulter (1987). American consumption of fish remained at the low level of 5 kg per caput until the 1970s when increases began, accelerating in the mid-1980s to reach 6.6 kg in 1985. The expectation is more than double this level within 30 years. Many reasons are given for the increase in consumption but undoubtedly the recognition by the American public that fish is one of the healthiest foods is a “fact that no amount of advertising by the beef, dairy and port industries can hide” (Coulter, 1987).
Since at least one-third of seafood is consumed in restaurants, American consumption is determined by the state of the economy of as whole: rising disposable incomes lead to more eating outside the home. Structural changes in the US fisheries industry, which include the deeper involvement of large food processors and a greater commitment to market development, have contributed strongly to improved sales and an increase in variety of products.
The fact that imports comprise as much as 60% of domestic seafood consumption in volume terms gives considerable promise to a range of exporting countries. From 1980 to 1985 imports of finfish, fresh or frozen, grew by 56% to 546 000 t, excluding tuna mainly destined for canning.
Freshness has been a strong selling feature and there has been a move away from breaded products like fish sticks or fingers toward unbreaded fillets.
Substitutes have been found for popular American species in short supply, e.g., Chilean seabass for the white seabass of California. The US market is judged to be capable of absorbing exotic and unusual species but subject to the following criteria: first, they must be acceptable either to mainstream American tastes or to a particular segment, usually an ethnic grouping, of the market and second they must be well marketed (Coulter, 1987).
Within this market it should be possible to establish a position for seabass following a suitable detailed market investigation. The related Nile perch from Africa has already commenced marketing trials in America (Seafood International, March 1989). However, it is desirable that the market be approached in a unified fashion, preferably with one exporting entity to ensure a consistency of product quality and supply. Unlike shrimp, which has reached commodity status, seabass along with most other novel imported fish will have to rely on the marketing skill of an importer or agent to establish its position.
Japan
Japan is the largest importer of fisheries products in the world besides being one of the largest producers. Imports rose by 16% in 1988 to reach 2.4 million t or $US 10.9 billion (Kano, 1989).
There have been major changes in consumption patterns for all food including seafood during the 1980s. Expenditure on eating out increased by one-third between 1980 and 1987 when it accounted for 16% of food expenditure. Expenditure on fresh/ frozen seafood rose by 10% in the same period. This is a reversal of the trend in the 1970s when consumption of red meats rose to the detriment of fish.
The consumption pattern shifts markedly according to product. For example, shrimp and sashimi-tuna have strong positive income elasticities: shrimp consumption rises by 0.8% for every 1% increase in income. Traditional products like mackerel and sardine have negative elasticities and are purchased less as income rises.
Live product form is gaining increasing favour both in restaurant and the home, the latter mainly for gifts. Currently 11% of the value of fresh or live fish sold at Tokyo Central Fish Market is for live fish, and throughput reached 11 135 t in 1987 (Kano, 1989). Popular species include halibut, red seabream, perch, seabass, and yellowtail, largely from domestic producers. Airfreighted imports attest to the high potential for live products in the Japanese market particularly shrimp, lobster and high-value finfish, local natural stocks of which are decreasing. Total fishery imports by air increased by 75% between 1985 and 1987 to reach 80 000 t annually in 1987 (Kano, 1987).
Indonesia is already a significant beneficiary of the Japanese appetite for premium seafood, being one of the major suppliers of shrimp (71% of annual exports or 40 300 t sent to Japan in 1988) and increasingly of sashimi-tuna, one company having reached a daily total of up to 30 t fresh tuna by early 1989 (Seafood International, March 1989). Thus trading contacts exist which could facilitate the development of alternative export products such as farmed finfish.
The most attractive potential products in this sector are likely to be various groupers. Groupers are found in Japanese waters and are already being imported live from Hong Kong. Preference is probably for the less brightly patterned species. Seabass may also have some potential; it is not reported whether Taiwan, the nearest producer to Japan, has exported live seabass, along with the eel and shrimp that form the bulk of its live shipments; Korea, however, was exporting live seabass to Japan in 1984 (Choi, 1985). The native sea perch, Lateolabrax japonicus, is a favoured species but more recently the acceptability of L. calcarifer has been confirmed (Kano, 1987). Airfreight has not been particularly successful for market-sized seabass elsewhere and the long journey from Jakarta to Tokyo mitigates against a successful market for the live product unless prices are particularly good. Export in fresh chilled form is probably the best target for seabass producers and could be explored further with those engaged in sashimi-tuna trade.
Europe
Europe is far from being a homogeneous entity for trading but represents an enormous aggregation of consumers distributed through 20 countries.
Gross import values of $US 10.2 billion for EEC and $US 1.2 billion for other western European countries in 1987 masks the fact that there is much trading of fish products within Europe. Respective export values were $US 5.7 billion and $US 3.0 billion for the same period (FAO, 1987). With the exception of the rapidly growing salmonid aquaculture sector most fisheries products are drawn from the heavily exploited regional capture fisheries in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and further afield.
Per caput consumption within the EEC was 20.3 kg (1984–86) but there are wide variations between countries, from 8.5 kg (Netherlands) to 43.0 kg (Portugal). Market requirements have differed significantly between countries. Traditionally, northern Europe ate mainly white fish and herring products, and Mediterranean countries a wider range of fish and shellfish products. Increased tourism from the more developed countries of Europe has now led to a broadening of consumer tastes towards a far wider range of species and product forms.
A significant relaxation of internal trade barriers within EEC is scheduled for 1992 and has already resulted in a rationalization of business activities on an EEC-wide rather than the national basis traditional among seafood businesses.
This will continue to facilitate attempts to exporters to serve European markets particularly for products at the commodity end of the market such as frozen block fillets.
Exotic species (seabass would probably fall into this category) have probably the strongest market at Rungis, France which serves principally the Paris region but reaches a far wider area. This is supplied with fresh fish from several nearby countries, mainly Spain, but also by air freight from various countries in West Africa. Such a market would be a good testing ground for chilled seabass. Indonesian chilled fish from the capture fishery is already brought in by air so the necessary trade linkages exist.
European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax, is perhaps the premier finfish species on French as well as Italian markets, equally attractive either from the fishery principally by Spanish vessels, or from culture in a number of countries. Despite similarities in popular name with Asian species, the two belong to different families and are readily distinguishable on the market. Whether there are any features of L. calcarifer which would allow it to compete for the consumers of D. labrax against other species has yet to be tested. It would appear that D. labrax along with some of the sea breams has a market niche that allows it to command a higher price than fish which in many other culinary respects would be equal (Loix, personal communication). The prospects for L. calcarifer achieving similar prices to D. labrax are poor. Nevertheless a test of the market acceptability of plate-sized fish is worthwhile in view of the strong restaurant demand in general for fish of this size.
General comment
The description of market potential given here is not intended to be an exhaustive survey of world opportunities. It is provided to indicate a rationale and priority for national product and market development, in particular for farmed seabass on the assumption that it is desired to boost production to a similar order of magnitude to that recorded from the capture fishery.
The production of groupers in both capture and culture activities have been discussed earlier. This section emphasizes significant aspects of the market in individual countries which participate in international trade in grouper.
Hong Kong is the major world market for live groupers and also significant in the entirely different market for fresh, chilled groupers. Live fish fetches a price three to five times that for fresh, chilled fish.
As pointed out earlier, estimation of the size of the domestic market is extremely difficult; for groupers it is of the order of 50% of the total live marine fish market estimate of 11 000 t, about 5 000 t/year shared between domestic culture, domestic capture and imports, and valued at about $US 50 million wholesale.
Domestic culture overtook the local fishery as the major source of live marine fish (all species) in 1986, and the growth was probably a result of the increased imports from China and other more distant suppliers of grouper fingerlings for on-growing during the mid-1980s. Further growth in domestic culture, i.e., cage-farming, is constrained by limited water space (AFD, Hong Kong 1988, unpublished) and the continuing growth in demand must rely on increased imports.
In the latter 1980s various coastal provinces of China became major sources of imported live marine fish, stimulated by increased demand in Hong Kong and a relaxation of state control on economic activities, thus enabling the creation of joint ventures between Hong Kong and Chinese businesses to grow and supply live grouper to the Hong Kong market. The expansion of imports from China as well as those from the more distant sources in Southeast Asia does not appear to have softened market prices in general. This may be because the market is wide and covers a range of species and sizes that cannot all be supplied from one source. An oversupply of one species can lead to a softening of prices for that species but has relatively little effect on prices for other species.
The principal grouper species traded live in Hong Kong include Epinephelus akaara (red grouper), E. tauvina (green grouper), Plectropomus leopardus (east star grouper) and Cromileptes altivelis (rat grouper) - the names given here are a literal translation of the vernacular terms for these species. At least five more are commonly traded whilst others are acceptable as substitutes under given conditions.
Market demand is fairly specific as to the size of fish required; above a certain size the price per unit weight decreases markedly. Best prices are obtained for fishes between 500 and 700 g per piece which is the size required for the Chinese banquet market where restauranteurs will require a large number of fish of the same species and size for one banquet.
An indication of the relative prices for different species and sizes is given in Table 9 taking as a reference the price for E. akaara table-size cultured fish in late April 1989.
Delivery of market or near-market sized groupers into the Hong Kong market is mainly by specialized live well carriers usually owned by the importers/wholesalers who form the Hong Kong partners in formal or informal joint ventures with overseas suppliers. Vessels used vary from converted wooden fishing vessels of 12 m to steel vessels of 25–30 m. Delivery duration is from 12 hours to 12 days according to origin of the supplies. The fleet probably numbers 20–30 units whose principal use is for long-distance live-fish transport. A greater number of fishing vessels equipped for live fish storage may be co-opted into use as transporters for quantities up to 2–4 t as need arises.
Efficient air cargo handling services both in Hong Kong and a number of regional airports has made air shipment of live groupers a practical proposition. The practice is fairly common for the shipment of fry and fingerlings from overseas collection points to grow-out operations. It has also been used for market-sized fish by those traders skilled in this rather delicate operation where a temporary shortage of supplies of particular high value species creates an opportunity for the swift trader.
The market for fresh or chilled groupers is broader and distinct from that for live groupers and generally conducted by different traders. Sales through the Fish Marketing Organization for the year closing March 1988 totalled almost 1 700 t (Table 19) at an average wholesale price of $US 3.50/kg; in addition a similar quantity is thought to be wholesaled outside giving a total market of 3 500 t which is further expanded by an unknown volume of frozen imports. Fish of up to 750 g go mainly via retail markets for domestic use whilst larger fish, usually above 1 kg, are sold whole to restaurants and hotels or filletted by secondary wholesalers and retailers for institutional or domestic use. This market sector is subject to strong cost pressures from alternative sources of the larger demersal fish such as snappers, emperors and a range of other percoid fishes that may be substituted. A substantial part of the retained annual imports of fresh chilled or frozen marine finfish, approximately 22 000 t in 1987, probably falls into this sector. Indonesia exported 12 t mainly of fresh grouper into this market in 1988 at an average price of $US 1.60/kg (BPS, 1989).
Singapore is probably the second largest market in the region for live groupers at present and one in which imports play a substantial part. Further, lacking the developed fleet of Hong Kong, Singapore relies on imports for the bulk of its fresh and chilled fish requirements, estimated earlier at 5 000–10 000 t for all prized species.
Its location, strong domestic market and excellent handling and transportation facilities have made Singapore an ideal distribution centre for a variety of premium seafoods to the major world market including live groupers despatched by sea or air to Hong Kong.
Consumer preference for live grouper is similar to that in Hong Kong except in that it excludes the colder water species not common in tropical seas like Epinephelus akaara, and consumers will accept somewhat larger fish at higher prices than in Hong Kong.
Strongly favoured groupers are Plectropomus maculatus, the red grouper of Singapore and Cromileptes altivelis, the polka dot grouper. The most commonly available species locally is the greasy grouper E. tauvina which fetches rather lower prices and probably accounts for 70% of production.
In keeping with its status as a special-occasion food item, market demand and price are seasonal. Highest prices are paid over the Lunar New Year festival and during the August-October wedding season.
Domestic seafarming production has grown at 6% per year between 1984 and 1987 and occupies one-third of the 100 ha of available coastal seafarming area. Brackish water impoundments, at one time occupying over 1 000 ha have declined to only 190 ha as land has been reclaimed for other uses. Forecast production by 1995 is 2 000 t finfish from full utilization of the 100 ha area available for coastal farming and the hitherto unutilized 220 ha of offshore waters within which active swimming species such as seabass and snappers are expected to be farmed. Domestic production of groupers declined from 162 t in 1982 to 129 t in 1987, despite their high value; this is attributed to the high cost and scarcity of E. tauvina fingerlings which are mainly obtained from Thailand and the Philippines. Despite considerable efforts there is no commercial hatchery production of grouper fry as yet (Chou, personal communication).
Estimates of live marine fish market throughput are extremely difficult in view of the variety of sources and of destinations. Cheong (personal communication) estimated 1 or 2 t daily of which less than half is grouper or an annual total of 100–200 t live grouper. This estimate is based more on local production than total product flow. Taking into account product inflow from Riau, estimated by Elsy (1987) as 50 t/month of all live fish 80% or more of which would have been groupers, total market throughput probably exceeds 500 t/year of live grouper.
The grouper share of the market for premium fresh fish is probably 25%–50%, or 1 500–4 000 t (personal estimate) of which 90% is imported. Indonesian exports to this market in 1988 were 42 t valued at $US 2.28/kg (BPS, 1989) of which 90% were in fresh form.
The aggregate import demand for live grouper in the two major open markets in Southeast Asia is of the order of 2 000 t, most of it in Hong Kong.
This demand has grown strongly in the 1980s and is likely to persevere provided that the regional economies, particularly that of Hong Kong, continue to grow at the average rates achieved over the 1980s: live grouper is a luxury item for most consumers and its consumption income- rather than price-dependent in Hong Kong. Domestic production capacity in the major markets is constrained by lack of space to develop further grow-out capacity, whilst shortages of fry limit production both domestically and in some of the major production areas for tropical grouper, i.e., Thailand, Malaysia and Riau (Indonesia).
The greatest contribution to international trade in live grouper is probably from various coastal provinces of China stretching from Fukien southwards to Hainan. Their output has been developed over the mid to late 1980s generally via joint ventures with Hong Kong investors and there are signs that it is levelling off. Taiwan also emerged as an international supplier in the late 1980s as a result of moving into grouper grow-out after shrimp crop failures. Domestic demand for grouper in Taiwan is thought to be strong and unsatisfied, and it seems unlikely that much production will find its way onto the export market whilst fry production continues to be limited.
The prospect is that much of the future growth in Hong Kong demand for grouper will have to be imported considerable distances. Two of the potential medium distance suppliers, Viet Nam and Philippines, do not have developed cage farming and are subject to frequent typhoons which severely affect the practicality of expansion.
Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia constitute the long-distance potential suppliers. Thailand has the most developed cage farming sector amongst these: 20 000 cages in the southern province of Songkhla alone and an annual production last estimated at 161 t (1986). Local availability of both fry and trash fish feed were, however, limiting grow-out expansion as far back as 1986 (Drewes, 1986).
Malaysian production likewise is constrained by fingerling availability and reportedly signs of domestic market saturation (Malaysia also imports market-sized grouper from Thailand).
Lacking the domestic markets for live grouper of both Thailand and Malaysia which bolster producers when short-term export demand slackens, Indonesia has only developed cage farming in Riau adjacent to the Singapore market where again fry and feed are constraining production (Tiensongrusmee and Rais, 1989).
In summary, the production of live grouper from existing production areas in Southeast Asia is largely affected by poor fry and feed availability. There is good potential to develop an export trade to Hong Kong for new production areas within this broad geographical region provided such areas have good supplies of natural fry or fingerlings and the modest, but regular, local availability of cheap fish for feed.
Requirements for practical entry into trade for market-sized fish are the ability to collect and keep alive a minimum of 5–10 t aggregate/month of the particular grouper species in demand and to be able to supply consistent volumes of suitable sized fish, in good health and fit condition for long distance transport. Hong Kong importers are prepared to collect such quantities in their own transport provided they are assured of regular supply.
Many areas within the Indonesian archipelago may contain adequate natural grouper fry or fingerlings to sustain this level of production but have not hitherto been test-fished with the right fishing gear.
Current handling methods available for live grouper are not yet efficient enough to make shipment by air a viable proposition for anything but the most expensive species. New methods which dispense entirely with water as the enveloping medium for transport are being introduced which may reduce the add-on weight for packaging live fish as well as sustain viability over a longer period. In time these could change the pattern of transport and open up more distant markets. For groupers from Indonesia, Japan could prove a significant market in the longer term and merits further and early examination.
Various snappers, rabbitfishes and jacks or crevalles comprise the remaining marine fish for which seafarming could be practical in Indonesia. The following section summarizes the market for these species.
Snappers
Snappers are a large group of fine-fleshed fish much used in the restaurant and hotel trade providing good quality fillets for general catering use. Nominal catch in the region totalled 66 000 t (see Table 17) in 1987. There are some six or more species commonly traded as red snapper regionally in chilled or frozen form from marine catches. Indonesian capture fisheries are a major contributor to the nominal catch whilst Viet Nam and China are likely also to produce significant quantities but do not disassociate the group in their statistics. Wholesale prices for fresh fish in the major import markets of Singapore and Hong Kong are approximately $US 1.50/kg and for frozen fillet rather less.
Such prices are unattractive to aquaculture producers but there is nevertheless a small aquaculture production regionally by virtue of the relative ease (compared with groupers) of obtaining fingerlings, the hardiness of the fish for cage culture and the fact that, like seabass, various species can be induced to spawn in hatcheries. Singapore and Hong Kong markets absorb small quantities of live snappers, particularly L. johnii, the mangrove snapper, but at prices considerably lower than for most groupers.
The medium-term export prospect for farmed snappers is not good, although there is no sign of impending deficit in domestic supplies within the region. However, small quantities may be incorporated in live grouper shipments to Hong Kong subject to importer's wishes at time of shipment.
Rabbitfishes
The world catch of Siganus spp. was 20 000 t in 1987. This group of hervibores enjoys a limited demand as a quality fish in a diversity of markets in the Arabian Gulf and Southeast Asia.
Specimens of up to 50 g are commonplace in trap catches in Hong Kong and are hawked alive at prices for bulk fresh fish (personal observation). Larger specimens up to 200 g are sold live in Singapore and Hong Kong, generally at prices much below those for groupers. One species, S. canaliculatus, known as New Year fish or “peh tor” (white stomach) has a strong demand at Lunar New Year in Chinese communities, particularly in Singapore, as a festive dish. Prices usually range from $US 7.50 to 15.00/kg at that time (Cheong, 1986).
The demand for rabbitfishes regionally is not high enough to justify specific aquaculture. They are often incorporated in cage-farming operations as an aid to keeping cage-netting free from fouling organisms, and small quantities will be accepted by the fish traders for similar purposes.
Jacks and Crevalles
Carangids are a large family abundant in the catches of both pelagic and demersal fishing gears in the region.
The relative ease with which both wild fry and juveniles of particular species of jacks and crevalles can be obtained has made them a subsidiary activity for cage farmers particularly in areas where the supply of fingerlings of preferred fish such as groupers, etc., is in short supply.
Although appreciated as a good quality fish by regional consumers such carangids command no special premium as capture fisheries are probably well capable of meeting total needs. Their potential as export items is also reduced by their highly active habit which renders difficult their long-distance transport. Small quantities of “novelty” species such as the golden crevalle (Gnathanodon speciosus) reach the live market in Hong Kong.
