Chinese processors are suffering from high labor costs as factories become increasingly "undesirable" places to work.
“People prefer to go and work in offices, where thework is easier,” Zhao Anan, export manager for processing giant China Starfish told IntraFish.
China’s one-child policy exacerbates the problem, with parents not wanting their only child to endure hard labor, encouraging them to take sometimes less well-paid office administrative over manual work. “It will be a tough year for smaller processors, this year,” said Zhao.
As a result, Zhao said Qingdao – China’s seafood processing capital, in the northeast of the country –had seen a 20-30 percent drop in operating seafood companies.
China Starfish produces 20,000 metric tons of finished product for export every year, 70 percent of which goes to Europe. Three years ago, the company’s owner also set up a new operation producing seafood solely for the Chinese market