An econometric analysis of the Spanish fresh fish market

Abstract

This article seeks to analyse the factors that determine the dynamics of the balance between supply and demand in the Spanish fresh fish market. For this, the time-series of fresh fish landed in the 1973–2009 period is analysed through an estimation of the series of transfer function models. Among other things, the findings in the Spanish case show a complex relationship between the amount of fish landed and price; a clear substitution relationship between fresh fish and aquaculture; a negative impact of labour costs in a manual labour-intensive sector such as fishing, which in developed countries is being affected by an exodus of manpower to other sectors where there is less uncertainty surrounding labour conditions; the impact of Spain being barred from international fishing grounds a result of the delimitation of exclusive economic zones (EEZs); and the dwindling importance of fisheries traffic as a result of the port devolution process begun in Spain in the early 1990s. The non-significance of a priori key factors, such as the price of oil and Spain's entry into the EEC, can be explained by widespread energy subsidies and contradictions in the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy, respectively.