European seafood supply, consumption increases

EU consumers had access to 14.4 million metric tons (MT) of seafood last year, an increase of 1.7 percent or 241,000 MT, close to the record volume supplied in 2007/2008, finds a new report.

According to the “Finfish Study 2015,” compiled by the EU Fish Processors and Traders Association (AIPCE-CEP), the net EU domestic supply of seafood for human consumption amounted to 5.3 million MT last year, an increase of 1.1 percent, while imports totaled 9.1 million MT, up 2.1 percent.

At the same time, the EU exported a record 2.2 million MT of products, leaving a net consumption of 12.2 million MT, which was an increase of 82,000 MT or 0.7 percent more than in 2013.

As a result, the EU28’s per capita consumption in 2014 increased by 100g to 24.4kg, said AIPCE-CEP. Tuna, salmon and cod were the most popular species in the market, accounting for around 1.3 million MT each.

“Attracting new consumers into the sector and also bringing back those who may have been less active in recent years has been a challenge to the industry, but these recent figures suggest this is happening more successfully. We see the opportunity to continue building on this momentum and move on to further growth,” states the report.

AIPCE-CPE also found that 89 percent of the bloc’s consumption of wild-capture whitefish species came from imports in 2014, the same as the previous year, but that EU whitefish landings increased by 1 percent or 3,343 MT and it expects this trend to continue throughout 2015.

“EU fisheries struggle to advance beyond the 11 percent share of wild-capture supply, but there are promising signs that the situation for quota and importantly utilization is improving in several of the most important species,” says the report.

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