South Carolina Shrimp Industry Partnership
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Marketing and Organization Strategies
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South Carolina Seafood Alliance Plan of Work 2003-2004Background The South Carolina Seafood Alliance's mission is to act as an advocate for South Carolina seafood businesses. By providing individuals and organizations that grow, procure, market, distribute, prepare, or otherwise handle seafood an organizational format from which to work, the cooperators aim to make the entire industry prosper synergistically. There are several avenues open to the Alliance to help it meet this mission. The Alliance, acting as an information clearinghouse both inside (between industry cooperators) and outside the industry (general public, news media outlets, and industry regulators), serves to communicate the economic benefits of a vigorous domestic seafood industry. The current aim of this effort is two-fold. First it is to balance the generally negative impressions the public receives from news outlets with more friendly information about the freshness, value and health of the cultured and wild fishery resources of Coastal South Carolina. Secondly, it is to increase industry participation so as to heighten the exposure and increase the political relevance of the organization. The information clearinghouse function of the Alliance markets the industry. This is the highest priority goal of the Alliance. It is absolutely vital for the public, and its elected representatives, to understand their stake in a vibrant in-state shrimp and seafood industry. Product marketing is the second avenue through which the Alliance mission will be attained. It is the goal of the Alliance to stimulate demand for local shrimp and seafood products, from local infrastructure presence (boats, docks, farms) and thereby add product value yielding increased revenue to the industry cooperators. Increasing land values has put tremendous pressure on the “sea-side” infrastructure’s ability to justify continued business. Decreasing prices, particularly from foreign shrimp and seafood imports, likewise brings into question the sustainability of local business selling local shrimp and seafood at current market prices. Imported seafood, and in particular shrimp imports, controls the market price of much of the seafood sold. Creating more demand for local products, which cannot be fully met, should raise prices to the harvesters through competition at the retail level. The sustainability problems of South Carolina seafood harvester/growers is not the problem of just the business and individuals associated with those small businesses. Tourism is the largest industry South Carolina enjoys. The aesthetic vistas and assumed freshness of local seafood is a huge tourist draw for the South Carolina lowcountry. Effective marketing of our local shrimp and seafood product, particularly within the coastal counties, as well as our continued presence then is indispensable to the economy of the entire State. Relative success in meeting the product marketing mission segment can be quantified by the Alliance only indirectly without significant outside assistance. The industry has no time to wait to improve the financial conditions of most its supply side (non-restaurant) industry participants. Until actual marketing studies can be conducted in concert with a separately funded product-marketing program, interim goals will be set to demonstrate measured success of its expenditures. The outline of work the Alliance intends to systematically accomplish, with the concomitant goals to measure accomplishment, is its Work Plan. Back to Plan of Work |
Fresh Catch Duke University Shrimp Industry Survey Matrix of USDA Grant Opportunities Listen to the Federal Permits Required in the South Atlantic Shrimp Fishery April 11, 2006 (pdf) ITC Votes to Keep Shrimp Antidumping Duty Orders for India and Thailand in Place Latest Clemson Extension Industry Newsletter
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Questions or comments: shrimp@clemson.edu
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