Market integration in Brazilian shrimp markets

Shrimp comprise a large share of Brazilian aquaculture production. Since 2003, producers have increasingly targeted the domestic market, and now most of the farmed shrimp production is consumed domestically. However, the domestic market has traditionally been supplied by shrimp from fisheries, mainly seabob and redspotted shrimp, creating the potential for competition between wild and farmed shrimp. The fact that these fisheries are generally considered overexploited may limit the impact of the competition. The degree of competition will be investigated by testing the degree of market integration between farmed and wild shrimp species in the domestic Brazilian market. The results indicate that the domestic markets for shrimp are integrated, as the price of shrimp supplied by fisheries and aquaculture form part of a system of shrimp prices.