PRODUCTION EFFORTS FOR NEW CANDIDATE FINFISH SPECIES IN TURKISH MARINE AQUACULTURE

Alternative species in Turkish aquaculture

Abstract

The present study covers a summary of efforts for Turkish marine finfish aquaculture over the past twenty years with a special insight to candidate species which could be an alternative to those traditionally produced at present. With its rapid growth trend, the Turkish aquaculture industry has become a key player among the World’s leading producers in marine fishes, especially seabream, seabass and trout farming. However, the oversupply of such species causes price fluctuations from time to time, that result in reduction of cash flow and farm profitability. Bottlenecks driven by the market imbalances cause severe problems for small and medium sized companies that come to crossroads for new business strategies. In the present study, the circumstances coupled with new marketing strategies to overcome profitability challenges have been evaluated with background information of the efforts to introduce new candidate species into the Turkish aquaculture industry.