Global interdependencies in seafood trade: the case of Bulgaria

Abstract

The international trade in fish and fishery products has reached global dimensions during the past several decades. While the domestic demand for seafood in Bulgaria is modest compared to European and world levels, Bulgarian fish processing enterprises are part of international value chains. At the same time consumer preferences for certain types of seafood in foreign markets shape the activities of the Black Sea fishing fleet. The paper makes an attempt to reveal some of the linkages between the Bulgarian commercial fishing and processing, and the world market that have formed during the past years. It outlines the development of the fishing fleet, its economic performance, the type of catch for domestic consumption and for export, as well as the role of the processing sector. It illustrates an aspect of globalisation: the connection between the harvesting of marine living resources and the demand for them in the world market. The development of the world seafood market calls for a precautionary fishery management approach, which envisages the potential exploitation of new species for a particular water basin.