The Role of Fish-Markets in the Icelandic Value Chain of Cod

The two main pillars of the Icelandic fishing industry are the large vertically integrated fishing companies and the SMEs, specialised in fishing, producing or marketing. In order to understand how they are able to function side by side and at the same time secure a relatively high value added for the domestic part of the Icelandic value chain of cod, a closer look at the functions and operations of the Icelandic fish-markets is needed. In the authors’ recent studies on structural changes in the fisheries value chain in Iceland from 1990 to 2012, six dissimilar main operational strategies were identified. Common to all of those was the need for an efficient use of the Icelandic fish markets. Three distinctive forms of fish-markets use were identified; firstly, specialisation, where companies use fish-markets to sell off all other species usually to SME producers specializing in those species, secondly, assurance, where companies ensure raw material and fill in when there is lack of cod from the company´s own boats and, thirdly, market driven, where companies completely rely on fish-markets for the supply of cod. To further studying this facilitator of industrial success, the focus is on the importance of fish-markets from the time of their establishment in Iceland in 1987. The research is based on semi-structured and in-depth interviews with managers of a number of Icelandic fishing companies and is a part