Email: r.freeman2@newcastle.ac.uk

Supervisors: Prof Jeremy Philipson, Prof Matthew Gorton and Dr Barbara Tocco

Project overview

My research is focused on the formation of short food supply chains (SFSCs) in fisheries. It draws on case study research of fisheries local development areas in England, experimental research into consumers’ perceptions and purchase intentions and, with the support of the projects collaborative partner (the European Commission’s ‘Fisheries Areas Network’ FARNET), a survey of international experience throughout the EU.

The research will contextualise, and contribute to, the broader theory and practice of short food supply chains as well as the integration of sectoral and territorial (place-based) approaches to local development. How supply chains can and will adapt in response to Brexit is a major issue.

This is especially so in fisheries, given that the UK imports most of the fish it processes or consumes and exports most of the fish it catches, and that a third of imports and two thirds of exports are from and to the EU.

In summary, the project aims to:

• identify the factors which constrain or support the development of SFSCs as a means of enabling integrated sectoral and territorial development in the UK and across the EU
• identify the motives of key stakeholders in the fisheries sector and to determine how the nature of supplier-buyer-consumer relationships and values affect the sustainable development of territorial markets
• understand how consumer perceptions and behaviour impact on the development of territorial markets, thus explaining how local products can be marketed locally and sustainable SFSCs established