Importance of temporal and spatial factors in the ex-vessel price formation for red shrimp and management implications

• The ex-vessel price of red shrimp varied up to 40% between months.
• Price seasonality is due to the product quality and to consumer behavior.
• Price varied up to 37% between ports of origin.
• Red shrimp is more expensive on Thursdays and Fridays.
• Since 2008 red shrimp price has become relatively cheaper due to the world crisis.

The importance of temporal (such as the day of the week, month and year) and spatial (port of origin, distance to main market) factors are measured in the price determination of a luxury seafood item, the red shrimp (Aristeus antennatus), using a hedonic price function. In hedonic analysis the price of a product is specified as a function of the attributes and factors that characterize the product, such as quality or origin. In this analysis there are used the daily ex-vessel data of red shrimp caught by the deep-water trawl fishery for the main fishing ports in Catalonia (North-West Mediterranean) for the period 2000–2012. Results show the importance of port of origin, seasonality, volume of landings and a decrease in price since 2008 due probably to the current world financial crisis. The day of the week, although of relatively lower importance in the models, shows that red shrimp prices are lower in Tuesdays and Wednesdays (14% lower than on Fridays). Management measures based on effort reduction in this input-controlled fishery could target these days when red shrimp price is lower in order to minimize the short-term adverse economic effect of effort reduction on the trawl fleet.