An assessment of market potentials, projected aquaculture and competing production, present and planned marketing infrastructure, and product development capacity in Greece leads to the following conclusions.
Markets for projected increases in aquaculture production in Greece exist but the problems involved in successfully supplying these vary between the different specific forms of production.
Most species produced by aquaculture have markets for product in live or fresh forms but trout, and to a lesser extent eels, have more demanding product development needs.
In the short term, the market in Greece can absorb projected sea bass, sea bream, mullet and carp production but the development of export markets will be important for trout, mussels and eels.
In Greece, there are low levels of control and monitoring of fish production and distribution, and a lack of market analysis and trends in fish and fish product consumption. There is, therefore, a need for more detailed and precise information-gathering on both supplies and markets, and monitoring of these areas needs to be established as a continuing, rather than occasional, activity.
The current system for the distribution of fish in Greece needs to be improved and more tightly controlled for the benefit of both producers and consumers.
The problems experienced by the fish catching sector in achieving proper returns from the fish trade have implications, especially in relation to the need for producers to organize their own marketing activity, which an expanding aquaculture industry cannot afford to ignore.
The Greek consumers' preference for fresh fish implies that the main product development needs will be at the farm level. That is, producers will have to develop the capacity to guarantee safety and quality control at harvest and post-harvest stages and to grade, pack and, where necessary, purify according to the markets' requirements.
Where demand for fresh product is satisfied, as is the case with trout and may shortly be the case with eels, further product development will be necessary.
Present trout processing capacity is in excess of 1 300 t of processed product and plans exist within the industry to increase this by a further 1 000 t. Processing companies have had some success in developing export markets for smoked trout products and the expansion of trout farming will be dependent on the continued success of processors in these markets.
