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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

An expert consultation on a methodology for market studies on aquaculture was held on 27–28 September 2018 at the headquarters of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO). Participants included 11 experts from industry, universities, research institutions, the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture (EUMOFA), media and the International Organisation for the Development of Fisheries in Eastern and Central Europe (Eurofish). In line with Resolution GFCM/41/2017/1 on a strategy for the sustainable development of Mediterranean and Black Sea aquaculture, the meeting aimed at enhancing the development of a market-oriented aquaculture at the regional level by devising a standard approach and methodology for national market studies on aquaculture, in order to provide comparable data and information at the regional level and pave the way for the integration of market data and information in the Information System for the Promotion of Aquaculture in the Mediterranean (SIPAM) platform of the GFCM aquaculture data collection system. The meeting addressed the type of data and information needed by the industry and public authorities and its availability, identified sources of data and information and shed light on standard methodologies and analyses. Participants emphasized the role that such a platform could play in market data and information harmonization and underlined that their inclusion within this platform should be further enhanced. Participants convened on a template of methodological sheets for the standardization of national aquaculture market studies and underlined the need for guidelines towards a standard methodology for market studies at the regional level. It was widely acknowledged that such guidelines would facilitate the assessment, policy development and management at the regional level and the development of rational production planning and marketing strategies and the formulation of appropriate policies towards a market-oriented aquaculture sector at the national level. The outcomes of the consultation would be reported and presented at the eleventh session of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Aquaculture (CAQ) (Spain, 2019).