Determining the target market of salmon using hybrid multi-criteria decision making method

Turkey is strategically located in terms of the seafood sector, and the salmon sector has also shown remarkable growth in recent years. While domestic salmon production has increased, especially with cold water fishing in the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea, Turkey still has a market structure largely based on salmon imports. With the increase in salmon consumption, Turkey has a significant market share in the domestic market. In terms of foreign trade, Turkey is taking steps to increase salmon exports and is trading with important markets, especially in Europe, the Middle East and Russia. Salmon finds an important market in countries where health awareness is rising and demand for seafood is increasing. Turkey is also evaluating export opportunities, especially in processed salmon products (such as smoked salmon). As a result, the Turkish salmon sector is a sector with growth potential both in the domestic market and in foreign trade. Going forward, sustainable production and developing international trade will increase the competitiveness of Turkish salmon in the global market. In this study, hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods such as Entropy and WASPAS were employed to identify the most suitable target markets for salmon exports. Initially, five objective criteria—import value, trade balance, unit product value, supplier concentration, and logistics performance index—were analyzed using the Entropy method to calculate their weights objectively. The highest weight was assigned to trade balance (0.4100), while logistics performance index received the lowest importance (0.0084). These weights were then applied in the WASPAS method, where 20 countries were ranked based on their normalized values across these criteria. By combining the results of both the weighted sum and weighted product models, the final scores indicated that Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Portugal are the most promising target markets for salmon exports import value, trade balance, unit product value, supplier concentration, and logistics performance index—were analyzed using the Entropy method to calculate their weights objectively. The highest weight was assigned to trade balance (0.3696), while logistics performance received the lowest weight (0.0126). These weights were then applied in the Entropy method, where 18 countries were ranked based on their normalized values across these criteria. By combining the results of both the weighted sum and weighted product models, the final scores indicated that Congo, Cameroon, and Saudi Arabia are the most promising target markets for salmon exports.