With Europe’s wild fisheries finding a much steadier footing, thanks in part to strategies contained within the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the European Commission’s attentions are turning toward farmed fish and boosting EU aquaculture production.
The EU’s aquaculture industry produces a fairly diverse range of species with about half its output comprising varieties of shellfish, whereas marine fish such as salmon, seabream and seabass represent around 27 percent and freshwater fish such as trout and carp account for the remaining 23 percent.
However, just 10 percent of Europeans’ seafood consumption comes from EU aquaculture. In total, it produces less than 1.3 million metric tons (MT) of products with a combined value of EUR 3.6 billion (USD 4.9 billion), which is about 20 percent of total EU fisheries production.
According to the commission, on a global scale, the EU’s share of total world aquaculture production is only 1.5 percent of volume and just under 4 percent of value.
At the same time, the EU is the world’s largest importer of seafood. It now brings in 68 percent of the seafood it consumes and these imports represent 24 percent of the total value of the global seafood trade.
In recent weeks, the European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Maria Damanaki, has set about reminding industry and consumers that seafood farmed in the EU is “healthy, fresh and local.” This campaign of communicating the sustainability, high-quality and healthy nature of EU aquaculture products was first announced last year with members of DG Mare pointing to third-party market surveys that claimed consumers are often ready to pay more for food products if they know they have been produced according to high standards.
In line with this strategy, Damanaki told attendees at a commission event staged at the recent Seafood Expo Global in Brussels that the growing demand for seafood, “especially for omega-3 rich fish,” cannot be met by increasing Europe’s wild catch but that its fish farmers are producing viable alternatives.
“There are simply not enough fish out there and our fish stocks are still reeling from years of overfishing,” she said. “Sustainably farmed fish can alleviate this pressure. Sustainable farming means producing while ensuring that our waters stay clean, our ecosystems rich and healthy and that consumer protection and social rules are respected.”
In addition to promoting the standards adhered to by European producers, the commissioner insists she will support the industry through three further priorities: improving access to space and water; reducing administrative burdens for the sector; and increasing competitiveness.
These commitments will be widely welcomed by industry, particularly as one of the biggest hindrances to European aquaculture expansion has been the slow, unpredictable and very costly licensing procedures. Obtaining a license for a new farm can take up to four years, which many stakeholders feel has been the biggest deterrent to outside investment. They further feel that confidence in the sector would grow significantly if producers were offered greater certainty in their future projects, whereby if they invest in setting up new sites, their costs will not be lost if they later fail to obtain approval to begin commercial production.
Crucially, the EU plans to make financial support available through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), which is the new funding instrument for the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. Brussels has also vowed to invest in research on the interactions with the environment, on health and nutrition of farmed fish, and on reproduction and breeding.
While it’s not known just how much money Brussels is willing to invest in European aquaculture, the overriding hope from the industry will almost certainly be that with the new support from the policymakers as well as the promise of further pro-aquaculture consumer campaigns it can start to grow after more than a decade of stagnation.
