The price of fish

Introduction

This article looks at the range and price of fresh fish species available at supermarkets and fish shops, drawing on information collected from nearly 90 retail outlets in the 15 urban areas surveyed for the consumers price index.

The information was collated and analysed as part of the 2006 review of product specifications of goods and services in the consumers price index basket. Under the approach used prior to the review, price collectors recorded the prices of all species available at each surveyed outlet. In total, they obtained 6,950 fresh fish prices during 2005 from nearly 90 outlets. These prices are for fresh fillets, unless otherwise stated.

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Distribution of number of species observed at each visit

Table 1 shows the distribution of the number of species available each month at sampled outlets. Six species was most common, followed by five. The average number available per visit was 6.6. In 75 percent of visits, between three and nine species were available. Nearly 18 percent of visits involved collection of prices for 10 or more species, and 31 percent of all prices were collected during these visits.

Table 1
Availability of Fresh Fish Species
Monthly by outlet during 2005

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Most commonly available species

About 150 species were observed during the year. Some of these are variations on the same species – for example, salmon steaks and salmon fillets are recorded separately.

The 10 most commonly available species (plus sole, which is commonly available only in the South Island) are shown in table 2. These 11 species covered about 69 percent of all observations. The table shows the number of times they were observed during the year and the cumulative proportion of total observations. Approximately 1,050 visits were made. Tarakihi, for example, was available for about 71 percent of visits.

Table 2
Availability of Fresh Fish Species
By species during 2005

^{(1) Fillets unless otherwise stated.}

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Seasonality

Table 3 shows the monthly availability of the 10 most commonly available species, plus sole. With a few exceptions – such as hoki, which had high availability from June to September 2005 and significantly lower availability at other times – availability of the most commonly available species was reasonably steady throughout the year.

Table 3
Availability of Fresh Fish Species
By month during 2005

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Regional availability

Table 4 shows the regional availability of the 10 most commonly available species, plus sole.

Table 4
Availability of Fresh Fish Species
By pricing centre during 2005

 

Table 4 shows that tarakihi, gurnard and red cod were available in all regions (although tarakihi was not common in Invercargill and red cod was not common in Whangarei).

Salmon fillets were commonly available everywhere, except Timaru. Salmon steaks were also common in 10 of the regions, but were not observed in three regions and were not common in two others.

Snapper was freely available in all regions except for those pricing centres south of Nelson (that is, Christchurch, Timaru, Dunedin and Invercargill). In the four regions where snapper was not, or only rarely, observed, sole was freely available (and was, in fact, the most commonly available species in two of the four southern pricing centres). Sole (a flatfish species that is found around New Zealand, but is more common in the south) hardly registered in the North Island. Brill, another flatfish, was also commonly available in Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill, but it was observed at only about half the rate of sole in these towns.

Blue cod was not commonly available in the upper half of the North Island.

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Prices

Table 5 shows average prices per kilogram during 2005 for the 10 most commonly available species, plus sole. Hoki ($12.12 per kg) and red cod ($13.18 per kg) prices were quite a bit lower than those of other species. Snapper ($28.75 per kg) and blue cod ($26.59 per kg) prices were highest. The two most common species, tarakihi and gurnard, were $19.19 and $18.40 per kg, respectively. By comparison, beef porterhouse steak prices averaged $20.93 per kg during 2005.

Table 5
Price of Fresh Fish Species
Average price by species during 2005

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Current approach to collecting prices

After analysing the information collected in 2005, Statistics New Zealand decided (as part of the 2006 CPI review) to collect prices for fewer species, but from more outlets. Prices are now being collected from nearly 100 supermarkets and fish shops in the 15 CPI pricing centres. Prices are collected each month for up to five species at each sampled outlet, starting from number 1 in the following list:

• tarakihi
• gurnard
• snapper (otherwise sole, if snapper not available)
• salmon fillets
• red cod
• salmon steaks
• lemon fish
• other species 1 (recorded by price collector)
• other species 2 (recorded by price collector).

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Use of average prices

The fish prices collected for the CPI are also being used to compile summary average price statistics for the Ministry of Fisheries. The Ministry plans to use the information to inform fisheries management.

Back to Price Index News: October 2007