This paper includes a survey of the main trends in fish market, a selection of a fish species, some preliminary zootechnical experiments completing available data and a technico-economical analysis. The method is validated by a determination attempt of the capacity of pollack, an Atlantic fish species, for aquaculture development in France. Between 1987 and 1997, the consumption of fresh fish by French households remained constant and, the market share of fresh cuts or prepacked fish largely increased at the expense of whole fresh fish. The development of this standard market share has been sustained by the supermarkets. As aquaculture has focussed on the whole fish market, its production is not adapted to this new market segment. Intrinsic characteristics of pollack sustain its candidature for aquaculture. A technico-economical analysis showed that pollack was well adapted to the transformation market segment. However, further investigations are needed to improve survival during the hatchery phase.