Cross-hedging wild salmon prices

Abstract

A number of studies have documented that there is a global market for salmon, in which wild and farmed salmon have a common price determination process. Recent studies report that Norwegian farmed salmon spot prices are also highly correlated with the Fish Pool salmon future contract price, indicating that the futures market can be an important risk management tool, as producers and buyers can hedge price risk. Here, we investigate whether the wild salmon prices can be cross-hedged against the Fish Pool salmon future contract, by testing whether the two prices are correlated.. If so, the Fish Pool future contracts can be used as a risk management tool for fishers and buyers of wild salmon. We find that this is the case, providing an additional link between wild and farmed salmon specifically, and between fisheries and aquaculture generally.