Since fish is not usually a food that consumers depend on for survival, processing companies have to market their products to potential buyers. There are always willing buyers, and a limited amount of seafood, but they do not usually come straight to a particular fish processing company to obtain their wares. Processing companies send representatives to the market, usually Japan, China, Europe, or the United States, to market their products. They attend trade shows, advertise in magazines, put on demonstrations, or even meet with groups of chefs to try to develop new recipes to stir up interest in previously unused varieties of fish.

"The fishery ranks third in Prince Edward Island's economy, behind agriculture and tourism. The groundfishery is one third the size it was ten years ago, but its lobster fishery continues to be strong. Its catch last year [1998] was down slightly from 1988, but its values was higher--$79 million in 1998 compared to $56 million a decade before. The last 10 years have also seen exponential growth in the Island's farmed mussel industry, says Parnell Trainor of the province's Department of Fisheries and Tourism. Production has soared from 1,400 to 11,400 tonnes and landed values have increased from $2.3 million to $13.75 million in the past decade. The Island has also seen an increase in the number of fishers and crew members over the last ten years--5,400 in 1998 compared to 4,600 in 1988."¹

The seafood processing company usually ships a small amount of products with its own trucks, but the bulk of shipping on land is done with a separate transport company. The most common way to move large amounts of goods is by boat, in a container. A single container is approximately 12 meters (40 feet) long, has its own refrigeration unit, and can hold about 20 tons. Usually, for international orders, the processing company will transport their own containers to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where they will be picked up by a container shipping company. The exception to this is tuna, which is sold fresh and flown to Japan, out of Halifax, Boston, or New York. This is due to its extreme popularity and fast rate of decay. The bulk of the PEI fisheries' international market is in Europe and Japan.