Consumers are end users of aquaculture products. Ultimately also the management practices used in aquaculture will be evaluated by the consumers.
All the four Aqua 4.0 projects (AquaIMPACT, FutureEUAqua, NewTechAqua and iFishIENCi) have actions to better understand the perceptions of consumers on aquaculture, and on the novel methods the projects develop. We also propose and conduct actions to increase awareness of consumers through communication.
Consumers in Finland, France and Spain call for more information on a wide range of topics from farming conditions to regulation and fish health. They consider that increased communication and transparency would be very positive but they also have some concerns. In addition to the focus-group discussions presented by Mariojouls et al., AquaIMPACT has conducted a quantitative survey of 1200 consumers in Finland, France and Spain on their perceptions on the genomic and nutritional methodologies that AquaIMPACT is developing. Moreover, using experimental economics, AquaIMPACT is studying willingness to pay for fish produced with these new farming techniques.
Presentations and e-posters presented in AE2020 related to this topic – see below
DO CONSUMERS WANT INFORMATION ABOUT AQUACULTURE ?
C. Mariojouls, T. Latvala, R. Gines & L. Muller
This first phase in our consumer studies show that being brought information on aquaculture is seen positively in the three countries, on a wide range of subjects, but our results also unveil many questions and, from some participants, criticism about intensive fish farming.