Farming Salmon: An Example of Aquaculture for the Mass Market

Aquaculture products serve two broad market categories, namely, ‘niche’ markets and ‘mass’ markets. There are hundreds of different species produced in aquaculture, most of them niche-market species, that is, those produced in modest volumes and sold at relatively high prices to a limited number of people. Examples include various species of eels, flatfish, bass, grouper, snappers and bream. In general, at present costs of production, these species will not meet mass market value expectations and are not likely to be candidates for future, large-scale aquaculture expansion. In contrast, there are very few species that are produced on a scale large enough and at a cost low enough to be considered mass market items. Examples include some shellfish, carp, tilapia, catfish, and salmon.