NEW SPECIES IN MEDITERRANEAN AQUACULTURE: IS IT AN ANSWER TO THE MARKET DEMAND FOR DIFFERENTIATED PRODUCTS? International Symposium on new species for mediterranean aquaculture

Mediterranean aquaculture development is now at a crossroads. The production of seabass and seabream has been increasing at a smart and constant pace for the last ten years. Nevertheless, it is still far behind the Northern European salmonid industry in terms of level of production, reduction of production costs and market internationalisation. Meanwhile, an in depth transformation of market conditions is ongoing in Europe which remains the main target market for Mediterranean aquaculture products. The most impo rtant issues are the soaring role of supermarkets in the distribution chain, the development of new processing techniques like pre-packed fresh fish, the growing importance of catering and the evolution of the consumer behaviour. Seafood consumer behaviour results from contradictory attitudes such as scrutiny of products ' origin and farming process, research of the best value for money, desire of social image and need for easy to store and ready to cook fish. As in any other seafood industry, product differentiation has become a pre-requisite to fit consumer's demand and reach new consumers thanks to market segmentation. From a theoretical point of view, two kinds of differentiation have to be taken into account: horizontal differentiation based on the diversit