Salmon production 2002 – 25,000 tonnes valued at about €80 million

Sector employs about 5,000 persons directly with 7,000 in service sector
 

Aquaculture sector supplies 1 in 3 fish from Ireland and 43% by value
 

Extremely important to coastal communities and maintaining the Irish culture
 

Is the only fish sector which has the potential for growth (50,000 tonnes by 2007)?

When this is put alongside the overall production for Atlantic salmon, which is approaching 1 million tonnes, Irish production is totally lost. In fact in Germany where I am based, imports exceed 80,000 tonnes per year, so the Irish production could only supply 30% of this market, let alone anyone else!!
When you are faced with these facts it almost seems that there is little point in investing or trying to develop the sector; that’s unless you’re Irish, of course, and for the local economy it is a potential winner.
In this case though Ireland has an advantage in being Irish, and if you look at almost any sector or producer it is possible to find a USP – Unique Selling Position – which will enable a sector to identify itself and its products.
If you say “salmon” to a German, they will always associate it with Norway – an excellent generic marketing campaign. However if you say Guinness, Ireland is the answer, and both are examples of USPs. For Ireland, the sector needs to create a USP – in this case a Unique Salmon Product.
Branding is nothing new, but it is essential to create niche markets. In the Irish situation I feel that there is a great potential to trade on Ireland itself and create a brand that reflects quality, environment and ethical benefits.
Twenty-five thousand tonnes is not a large volume, and if correctly focused could be branded and find better margins in the world market by targeting regional/local markets, not the world at large.
In Ireland’s case this could be linked to tourism. A group of farms in Ireland were visited by over 40,000 tourists this year who paid €12 per person per boat trip. What great advertising!!
But where do these tourists come from? I know that there are significant numbers of tourists in Ireland from the USA, Germany, France and the UK, so shouldn’t these areas be the first targets for the Irish brand?
But that is only the start.
Why do tourists come to Ireland, and how can these reasons be translated in to USPs which create awareness and interest to buy products when they return home?
It has been interesting to note that all through the BSE (mad cow) disease problems, Irish beef and Irish dairy products (notably Kerry-Gold butter) have been available in Germany.
Why?
The Irish image has allowed sales and consumers respect the Irish quality, so why not for Irish salmon? If people are visiting the farms, then they can see the superior methods used for raising Irish salmon, in ethically and environmentally sensitive ways - can’t they? If not, why not?
Because this is a golden opportunity to show the Irish brand, especially when the activists are doing everything they can to put down the industry. Ireland can be different, but marketing is not the only action that could be taken.
However as good the product is or can be, and even when margins can be improved by accessing niche markets, the industry itself must also be looking at ways to improve production costs.
The idea of clusters is an interesting one, especially when a sector is operating at a relatively low geographical spread. In the case of the Irish farms, from north to south is not more than 4 hours by car. An ideal opportunity for creating a cluster.
All of the sector use feeds, and services that are pretty much identical, so why not try to pool these resources, or negotiate as a single entity, or market all of the products under a single organisation (70% is already marketed by the ISPG)?
Although individual companies would still be individual, there is great potential to act as a single body to get the best discounts from suppliers, exchange information and benefit from marketing activities, all of which could improve margins, as has been seen in Chile.
A united face also has a greater influence on policy makers, and in Ireland that is essential. There cannot be many aquaculture sectors where there are companies doing the same thing yet are affected in so many different ways by inconsistent legislation.
It is time that the sector receives an even hand and supporting legislation to assist in its operation.
The Irish situation is only an example, but all producers and operators in aquaculture need to review their operations and identities. Companies now need to consider differentiation and identification which should be created by communication.
Don’t be a voice in a crowd, look to find the spaces where you can be heard.

Please contact the Editor of Fish Farming International for any further information on this article