Why buy snapper and blue cod for around $38 a kilogram, when tarakihi and gurnard are $10 to $11 cheaper?

Leading Auckland chef Marco Edwardes, for one, doubts it makes sense to buy the more expensive species.

The head chef at Te Whau Vineyard on Waiheke Island and contributor of about 40 recipes to The Complete New Zealand Seafood Cookbook, describes the price of snapper as ‘‘crazy’’ and says blue cod is also too expensive.

Differences in fish prices are highlighted by Statistics New Zealand’s latest figures, which show snapper was $38 a kilogram in 2013 and blue cod $37.58.
Michael Daly - stuff news.

At the bottom of the list of 12 commonly available species were hoki at $13.29 and red cod at $16.45.

Between 2008 and 2013 fresh fish prices rose 9.2 per cent, an average of 1.8 per cent a year, SNZ said.

Over the same period beef and veal were up 13.7 per cent, lamb 18.4 per cent, and chicken 7.3 per cent.

Of the fish on the Statistics NZ list, blue cod had the largest increase since 2008, up about $4.50/kg, while trevally also rose more than $4 although only because of a 14 per cent rise in the last year. The price of snapper increased by less than $3 and hoki was unchanged.

The three most commonly available species were salmon fillets at $30.35/kg, tarakihi at $27.03 and gurnard at $27.75

Why buy snapper and blue cod for around $38 a kilogram

Go down to Samfods on the water front, snapper is $45/kg   take a tiki tour around a few retail places, up to $49 kg
Its about supply and demand...and cost to supply
Resource drops, cost to supply (quota) goes up.. price increases...
As resource drops where supply(quota) cant be met, price goes up...and demand goes up, but amount sold reduces.
Till there is no more resource...  the company boards move into other investment areas during this process... like making ball bearings

So it seems , like off shore historical examples, the economic are a good indication of resource condition and or sustainable commercial 'farming'


Another indicator is the size and species of fish in the shops...as species (mullet, KT, crayfish etc ) get smaller... and small fish that historically where never considered marketable.... bait fish, macks, yellow tail, pipper etc
Something else that we have seen in retail shops lately