A new research paper diving into China’s seafood production over the past 10 years has found static production volumes, with distant-water catches replacing aquaculture volumes.
The study, performed by Chinese agri-focused market research consultancy Neng Xiao Feng (also trading as BeeData), suggests a contraction in local aquaculture output, albeit from historical highs, alongside a surge in distant-water catches.
China’s total seafood output of 64.6 million tons in 2021 represents a contraction of 1.3 percent from 2020, but was up from the 56.03 million tons it produced in 2011.
China’s reported catch from its vast distant-water fleet totaled 2.2 million tons in 2021, up sharply on the 1.14 million tons reported in 2010. While the study does not specify whether the totals include include the catch unloaded in international ports or by Chinese vessels flagged to other nations, it suggests the aggressive expansion of Chinese distant-water operations, often under the imprimatur of government blueprints like the Belt and Road Initiative, have reaped rewards.
Separately, China’s attempts to change the mode of its aquaculture production is also clear in the growth of aquaculture production in paddy fields – a model promoted by the state in the production of crayfish and shrimp in particular. Paddy field aquaculture production rose from 18.1 million tons in 2011 to 38.4 million tons in 2021.
The report also found seafood prices have remained relatively over the past 10 years – accounting for inflation, average seafood prices in China were actually lower in 2021 than in 2011, even though import data suggests China is paying higher prices for imports in the past two years.
Foreign supply is clearly impacting pricing levels. Prices hit a nadir in 2019, when seafood imports surged to a historical high, before rising in 2020 and 2021. Imports of 4.24 million tons in 2011 surged to 5.74 million tons in 2021, but the increase in value terms was sharper, from USD 8 billion (EUR 7.4 billion) in 2011 to USD 18 billion (EUR 16.7 billion) in 2021.
There has been much weaker growth in exports, which in volume terms went from 3.91 million tons in 2011 to 3.8 million tons – even though in value terms they rose from USD 17.7 billion (EUR 16.4 billion) to USD 21.9 billion (EUR 20.3 billion). Import volumes have not hit the highs of 2019, when 4.26 million tons was imported, but the value of imports in 2022 were well over the USD 20.9 billion (EUR 19.4 billion) figure for 2019, suggesting global inflation of seafood prices has hit home in China.
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