International Business Transactions Course: Term Project-Tuna Fish Farm Business

Essay by mcdonaldUniversity, Master'sA+, April 2006

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1. The Tuna Fish Industry

The annual tuna fish consumption is estimated to be 800.000 tons. Japan is the biggest consumer in the market with an annual consumption of 500.000 tons. The rest is estimated to be sold mostly to Japanese restaurants around the world. The basic reason for this is that tuna fish is one of the fundamental foods used in the Japanese kitchen especially for sushi and sashimi.

This attractive situation caused by the huge demand of Japan has pushed the fishing industry into a new production technique: tuna fish farms. The basic idea of this technique is to catch the tuna fish in the sea with fishing boats and carry them to the farms. The farms not only let the fishermen keep the fish fresh and secure; but also let them feed the tuna fish in order to increase the total amount of tuna they sell in terms of tons.

1.1 The Tuna Fish Farm Industry in Turkey and Project Scope

The Turkish fishing industry has been developing parallel to the trend of building fish farms. The Mediterranean Sea is the hunting area of Turkish fishermen for tuna fish. Each year tuna fish enter the Mediterranean Sea from the ocean to lay their eggs around May 15th and leave the Mediterranean Sea in 40 days. This 40 day period is the only period each year the fishermen are able to catch tuna fish. Since the fish lay their eggs during this period, they lose a lot of weight.

In order make profit with the demand of tuna fish around the world, mostly Japan, 5 Turkish firms are currently using this period to catch tuna fish for their tuna fish farms in Turkey. After the tuna fish are caught, they are carried to the farms approximately in 30...