Presentation short abstract

This paper analyzes the production and sales of farmed Turkish sea bass and sea bream and contributes to discussions on political ecology, agrarian change and seafood production, as well as the expansion of marine extractivism and commodity frontiers by placing the Mediterranean at the center.

Presentation long abstract

Production of seafood, especially with a specific focus on the Mediterranean, has received relatively little attention both in agri-food debates and political ecology studies, despite the fact that since the 1960s, it has shown a significant transformation through the industrialization of fisheries and globalization of seafood commodity chains. In this process, intensive aquaculture emerged as a new industry in response to declining fish catches and stagnating profits. Global commodity chains of seafood and capital accumulation processes thus changed tremendously, leading to complex international trade dynamics and rising inequalities. In this paper, we scrutinize the transformation of the Turkish aquaculture sector by focusing on farmed sea bass and sea bream (SBSB) in Turkish waters and their operations both upstream (processing of fish feed in Africa) and downstream (sales and distribution in Europe) in the global SBSB value chain. We adopt a single-commodity approach to uncover how the commodity frontiers of capital-intensive SBSB production have expanded by focusing on the strategies of Turkish aquaculture enterprises, trade dynamics, and socio-ecological implications of SBSB production via in-depth interviews with key stakeholders and a review of legislative documents and trade data. Our analysis offers critical insights into the fish feed production and certification dynamics around SBSB production, and establishes the spatial links of the Mediterranean with Western African waters and European retailers. Thus, it aims to contribute to discussions on political ecology, agrarian change and seafood production, as well as the expansion of marine extractivism and commodity frontiers by placing the Mediterranean at the center.