Consumer Awareness and Acceptance of Aquaculture Practices and Products in Penang, Malaysia

Abstract

High demand of seafood products combined with over-harvesting of wild catch aquatic products have elevated aquaculture as the alternative way to strike a balance between seafood product supply and demand. However, uncontrolled aquaculture activities are found to affect the environment negatively as well as the health of consumers. Better awareness and understanding can regulate aquaculture practices and bring about environmental health through consumers’ pressure on the aquaculture production system. This study aimed to identify consumers’ perception on aquaculture industry, to study consumers’ awareness on sustainability of aquaculture practice and also to find ways to increase consumers’ awareness and acceptance of sustainable aquaculture practice and its products. A mixed research method was used in this study combining quantitative questionnaire survey of respondents who bought aquaculture products at wet markets in Penang, and qualitative in-depth focus group discussions (FGDs) with a number of selected respondents. Research findings show that most of the respondents are aware that aquaculture might give lots of negative effects to human health and the environment but, they still chose to buy aquaculture products due to cheaper price than wild catch seafood products. Hence, from the findings, it is clear that even though people have awareness, they have little choice but to accept the quality of aquaculture products. However, the results also show that enhancing consumer awareness and understanding empowers consumers to put pressures on producers paving the way towards sustainable aquaculture and greater acceptance of aquaculture practices and products.

Keywords: Consumerawarenesssustainableaquaculturepractice and product

Introduction

The aquaculture industry has increasingly evolved into one of the most important food industries for the supply of aquatic food as over-harvesting of wild aquatic food has continued to deplete supplies (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO] 2020, Fisheries and Aquaculture Department 2012). Aquaculture, commonly also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic products such as fish, prawns/crustaceans, molluscs, algae, aquatic plants, and other aquatic organisms. Aquaculture involves the farming of freshwater, saltwater and/or brackish water edible aquatic organisms under artificial and controlled conditions in contrasted to natural fishing and harvesting of wild aquatic food. Aquaculture is seen as the saviour in a world of depleting fisheries caused by over-fishing, pollution and other reasons. The aquaculture industry is one of the fastest growing food-producing industries in the world, supplying more than one-third of the world's fish food. However, poor regulation of the aquaculture industry has caused serious problems. Hence, despite much benefits to society, the industry is saddled with safety concerns. Unregulated aquaculture practices, especially in developing countries, have caused serious environmental problems. It has been documented that aquaculture products have man-made toxic substances such as antibiotics, pesticides, and persistent organic pollutants that can severely affect consumers ( Cole et al., 2009). The above pollutants found in farmed fish can pose health concerns to unsuspecting consumers, in particular in children, pregnant or nursing women, and old people.

In Malaysia, aquaculture began in the 1920’s, and has developed gradually. Aquaculture practices employed are brackish water aquaculture, marine aquaculture and inland aquaculture. Aquaculture farmers culture a wide variety of species, including saltwater, brackish water and freshwater varieties that include prawns, fish, shellfish, finfish, cockles, abalones, oysters, crabs and others. Increasingly, aquaculture has become a very viable and important source of supply of aquatic food towards enhancing food security as well as improving local livelihoods and earning export revenues for the country. In the recent Malaysia plans, the aquaculture sector has evolved to become the most important area in the government’s recent development policy. The Malaysian government aims to increase aquaculture production by many folds in the future. In the 1990s, total production from aquaculture was 52,302 tonnes, and this was increased to 114,114 tonnes in 1994, almost doubled. According the data shown by Fisheries and Agricultural of the United Nation (2020) in year 2013, the total aquaculture production in the country increased to 194,139 tonnes with a market value of USD 308 million. By 2017, the total aquaculture production was more than 200,000 tonnes. This was about 20 percent of the total value of the fisheries production in Malaysia ( Fisheries and Agricultural of the United Nation, 2020). Of the total, more than 70 percent is brackish water aquaculture in terms of value and quantity ( FAO, 2020). However, difficulties in land acquisition, rising production costs, lack of skilled labour and threat of diseases are obstacles which impede the development of aquaculture ( FAO, 2020). More importantly, the lack of strict regulations in aquaculture has led to negative effects of the industry on environment and society.

Recently, Loh et al. (2020) writing on “The Crustacean Chronicles” reported that Malaysian aquacultured shrimps contain two antibiotics – nitrofurans and chloramphenicol, both of which can lead to serious health issues. It is believed that residues from these two antibiotics are carcinogenic. It was also reported that in 2020, many Malaysian shrimp exporters have been put on the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) red list after samples of 18 shipments from 11 Malaysian exporters were detected to contain chloramphenicol. Loh et al. (2020) also reported that between 2009 and 2018, a total of 28 Malaysian shrimp exporters were put on the red list by the USFDA when 56 shipment samples were found to be contaminated with nitrofurans. Out of the 28 exporters, 19 were from Penang. There is no doubt that the aquaculture industry produces a great deal of wastes and harmful by-products that are harmful to people and environment. However, the literature indicates that consumer awareness of contamination of aquaculture products is low despite the fact that consumers’ association have been highlighting the issue for years ( Consumer Association of Penang, 2020). To ensure that the aquaculture industry is environmentally-friendly and its products safe, consumer awareness must be increased. With greater awareness, consumers understand they have the rights to change environmentally-damaging aquaculture practices to environmentally-friendly practices as well as to improve product safety and quality. Lack of awareness and knowledge among consumers can hamper consumers in changing their purchasing behaviour on choosing the right seafood products. Past studies have shown that consumers in Penang have poor awareness of the production processes in general, the safety of the products and health problems related to the products as they usually choose a product based on pricing ( Shafii, 2008).

Consumers are also one of the most important parties that can be instrumental in achieving sustainable aquaculture practices as they can either accept and buy or reject the aquaculture products. According to Yi ( 2019), consumers can be won over by applying certification systems that are related to sustainability. Sustainability-related certification systems are also closely linked to safety and environment. Hence, certification is a tool for transferring value, trust, and reward between producers and consumers ( Belton et al., 2011). Although consumer awareness and acceptance of aquaculture practices and their products are essential for applying sustainable aquaculture, academic research on consumer awareness and perception toward sustainable aquaculture are limited. It is therefore necessary to study consumer awareness, perception and the variables/factors that affect consumer behaviour towards the aquaculture industry and its products.

This study is focussed on studying consumers’ level of awareness and their perception of aquaculture practices among consumers in Penang. The pilot study of this research indicated that few consumers understood the aquaculture industry, their practices, the production system and its products. A good consumer needs to know as much as possible about aquaculture practices so that he/she can identify the product’s quality and safety. This study focuses on consumer awareness regarding aquaculture practices and the safety of its products. Consumers’ awareness leads to acceptance and support, and this is vital to improve aquaculture practices and the safety of the products. Consumption pattern or consumers’ behaviour can affect natural resources use and the quality of aquaculture products. Consumer awareness on aquaculture products and practices depends on their knowledge, attitude, experience and health condition ( Clay, 2004).

Problem Statement

Every industry has a complex relationship with environment and society that is affected by the market, supply and demand and also the availability and sustainability of natural resources. Most products produced in the world use natural resources such as water, energy, soil and others that impact upon environment and people. The aquaculture industry and its products are no exception. In fact, aquaculture farms use a lot of natural resources and cause degradation of environment, and poorly regulated aquaculture is shown to severely impact upon human health ( Cole et al., 2009). This is because when pollution occurs it may influence the quality and quantity of the products, leading to negative effects on human health. To consume seafood, consumers need to understand what it means to prioritise sustainability over conflicting factors like price, the taste, quality and so on in the purchase situation. However, consumer awareness is vital to achieve sustainability goals when they buy or consume seafood or aquaculture products in wet market or eat in restaurant. When consumers are of low awareness, such as consumers in Penang, they just look at the price as the most important factor when purchasing aquaculture products. Based on this scenario, most consumers do not really care how aquaculture farms produce their products and distribute them to the market. Hence, they are not aware about the safety and quality of the aquaculture products, which may be contaminated and has the potential to harm their health. Eventually, poor awareness can lead to environmental degradation in terms of increasing CO ₂ emissions, degradation of land and water quality, contamination of the environment, and negative effects on human health.

According to Nijdam et al. ( 2012), consumer’s purchasing pattern of seafood can give rise to lots of negative effects to the natural resources quality and increase the vulnerability of the environment. However, if consumers purchase correctly, then it will bring positive effects to the environment. Consumers’ decision making can have a big impact on industry and their production system. For example, when many people prioritise health and environment, they will prefer healthy food instead of tasty food, or junk food. Consequently, the food industry will change their strategy to produce healthy food that suits consumers’ needs. This is because industry will fulfill the buyer’s desire in the market so that they will earn more profit and sustain the product supply in the market ( Mohan & Bhatta, 2002). Under the current scenario, however, consumers have low awareness on aquaculture, and they are unaware of their role in achieving sustainable aquaculture practices. Consumers believe that such a change must be the responsibility of the aquaculture industry or the government. Consequently, this makes the aquaculture industry solely focus on their quantity of production but not the quality, much less to safeguard or protect the environment. Unless Penang consumers change their buying strategy from one that is based on price to food safety, health food and food that is produced in an environmentally-friendly industry, it is unlikely that the aquaculture industry will focus on environmentally-friendly production systems, produce healthy aquaculture products free of contaminants, and become sustainable.

Research Questions

Several research questions are asked in this study as follows:

• What is the level of consumers’ awareness and what is their perception on the aquaculture industry?

• What is the level of consumers’ awareness on the sustainability of the aquaculture practices and their products?

• How can consumers’ awareness on aquaculture be enhanced and what does it take for consumers to accept sustainable aquaculture practices and products?

Purpose of the Study

According to the research questions identified, this study is important because results of the study identify the level of consumer awareness and perception on aquaculture practices and its’ products. Consumer perception can will identify the important factor/s influencing decision making among consumers when they buy seafood in wet market. Once the major factors of consumers’ decision making are identified, they can give direction to the aquaculture industry to improve on their products and their practices. Indirectly, this study can propose some new inputs to the aquaculture industry to cater to the needs of the consumers based on their perception of aquaculture products. Next, this study can also understand consumers’ awareness towards aquaculture practice and its’ products. Based on this understanding, ways can be suggested on improving their awareness through labeling, public education, general knowledge, consumers’ rights and so on. When consumers know their rights, they will take action to ensure aquaculture products are of good quality, free of contaminants and push the aquaculture industry to become more environmentally-friendly and sustainable. This study will also contribute some suggestions towards achieving sustainably managed aquaculture.

Research Methods

This study used a mixed method to do collect the data, process the data and analyze the data. The quantitative method used is through the distribution of questionnaires to 30 respondents in Penang state. A set of questionnaires was developed as the instrument for this study. There are a few sections in the questionnaire such as demography, consumers’ perception and their awareness with regards to sustainable aquaculture practices and its products. This study collected 30 sets of questionnaires at various research locations. The researchers also selected 5 consumers to get detailed subjective data to supplement the quantitative data. These 5 respondents were grouped together for Focussed Group Discussion (FGD). The research was conducted in Penang, Malaysia and the major target of the study is to study about consumers’ awareness towards sustainability aquaculture and its products. Thus, the study area was in Penang as the state has a large number of aquaculture farms. The data was analyzed by using SPSS. AS this is a preliminary study, the main statistical technique used was frequency analysis and descriptive analysis. Analyzed data are shown in the form of graphs, charts and tables.

Findings

To identify consumers’ perception on aquaculture industry

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According to table 01 , research findings show that 20 respondents (66.67%) accepted aquaculture products with different reasons. Not surprisingly, of those who accepted, 11 out of 20 (55 %) stated that the reason was price. The next popular reason for accepting was that the food was tasty. None of the respondents mentioned health as the reason. In contrast, only 10 respondents (33.33%) rejected aquaculture products based on rational reason. According to the results, it can be seen that the majority of Penangites accept aquaculture products and feel they are safe for consumption. The findings indicate that most of the consumers (36.67%) choose aquaculture product as a source of protein in their daily meal because it is cheaper compared to wild catch seafood products. Other than that, tastiness of the food is also important for Penangites. Of the 5 detailed interviews, the FGD revealed that price was indeed a top factor influencing consumers’ decision, followed by tastiness of food. It was mentioned in the FGD that Penang was a food paradise and Penangites view their food seriously. The FGD also revealed that none of the 5 respondents knew that aquaculture products can be contaminated by chemicals.

For the 10 respondents who rejected aquaculture products, the main reasons were that aquaculture products were not healthy or were not safe to be consumed, will negatively affect their health (e.g. such as allergy, product smelly and the product was easy to get disease due to contamination). These feedbacks make us understand the reasons why aquaculture product was still not accepted by a significant number of consumers who know unsustainable aquaculture product might bring a lot of negative impact to their health. This survey can identify consumers’ perception on their decision making towards aquaculture product consumption and it was useful to identify major factors affecting consumers’ choice of products. This understanding will help towards finding more effective ways to improve aquaculture practices and ensure safety of their products. For instance, although price has been identified as the major factor for consumer choice in buying aquaculture products, once consumers’ awareness and understanding of aquaculture and product safety are enhanced, then price will become less important. Rational consumers will understand that their health and their environment are more important, and will change their choice to accept aquaculture products at higher costs if the products are safe. This willingness to pay is for a sustainable product from a sustainable aquaculture industry. Of the 5 detailed interviews, the FGD revealed that none of them rejected aquaculture products. However, when it was suggested to the group that aquaculture products can be contaminated by chemicals, the group quickly agree that they may reject such food in future. This confirmed that once people are aware and understood the problem, they will reject aquaculture products as they value their health.

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Figure 01 shows that most respondents/consumers are not sure whether the aquaculture industry contaminates the environment or not. Although aquaculture practices have huge potentials to contaminate our environment such as effluent discharge into receiving waters (rivers, ponds, lakes, seas etc), toxic pollution and soil degradation. Nevertheless, results of this study show that 43% respondents are not sure as to whether the aquaculture industry may contaminate environment. On the other hand, 20% of the respondents do not agree that aquaculture will pollute the environment. This group thinks that aquaculture is acceptable as it does not contaminate the environment. From these results, we find that the majority of the respondents are not aware that natural resources such as water and soil can be polluted by aquaculture practices if not regulated. Only 27% of respondents agreed with that aquaculture will negatively impact upon the environment, with 10% respondents totally agreeing with the same statement. Those who agree that aquaculture practices can cause environmental pollution are the well informed and educated ones with good awareness. They know the process of unsustainable aquaculture production system, the toxic chemicals they use, and the serious effects on the environment. As mentioned above, of the 5 detailed interviews, the FGD revealed that none of them rejected aquaculture products because they were not aware that it can be contaminated. Similarly, all the 5 were unsure whether the aquaculture industry contaminates the environment or not. However, as soon as it was made known to the group that aquaculture products can be contaminated by chemicals, the group quickly became aware of this issue and unanimously agreed that they will reject such food in future. This confirmed that once people are aware and understood the problem, they will reject aquaculture products as they value their health.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that aquaculture is a very important industry supplying aquatic food to the masses. However, the industry in Malaysia is still poorly regulated and information on the industry and its products not readily available. Currently, globally and in Malaysia, aquaculture products are associated with some negative attributes such as foul smell, not tasty, not fresh and contaminated by chemical pollutants. Furthermore, the industry is also known to have negative effects on the environment. However, such negative effects are avoidable through better regulation, consumer pressure, marketing strategies and corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the part of the producers. This study had done a survey on consumers’ perception and awareness on aquaculture practices and its products. Most of the consumers were found to be unaware of the implications that can occur due to unsustainable aquaculture practices and that those consequences may harm the product’s safety, consumers’ health and also the environment. This study provides some ideas for the improvement of consumers’ awareness towards greater acceptance of aquaculture products and the ways to achieve sustainable aquaculture practice. A best management practice such as the MyGAP program for the public and aquaculture farmers can enhance information or awareness among consumers and farmers. This program or scheme provides a good guideline for aquaculture products buyers and producers. In addition, MyGAP can also ensure that the farmers practice sustainably managed aquaculture without using chemicals or hormones in aquaculture practice. Results from this approach may paint a better image of the industry via consumers’ perception and acceptance of aquaculture products. The use of ecolabel certification can also increase consumers’ awareness and their confidence on aquaculture products. More public campaigns on various aspects of sustainable aquaculture practices and products can enhance the industry’s image and sustainability. Finally, education is an important factor for success. With good understanding through education, consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable aquaculture products. Farmers who invest to get better quality aquaculture products through good practice or management also reap benefits. Consumer participation in the aquaculture industry is vital as the green consumer movement demands green products. Moreover, educated consumers are willing to pay more to improve the aquaculture industry in order to increase product quality and conserve the environment.

Acknowledgments

This work has been supported by the Long Term Grant Scheme (LRGS) titled “Study of Social, Cultural and Economic Aspects of Sustainable Aquaculture Focussing on Resource Reclamation and Reuse of Aquaculture Effluent”, Account Number 203/PHUMANITI/67215003. .

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