The European Union's fishing fleet registered a net profit of EUR 1.30 billion (USD 1.5 billion) in 2017, only 3 percent lower than the record EUR 1.34 billion (EUR 1.2 billion) registered in the previous year, finds the newly published 2019 Annual Economic Report on the E.U. Fishing Fleet.
According to the European Commission, the continued strong performance was the result of higher average fish prices, continued low fuel prices, and the improved status of some important stocks. This trend is expected to continue into 2018 and 2019 despite some fluctuations in fuel prices.
The report, which was compiled by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), also identified the sustainable exploitation of fish stocks as a foundation for the positive trend, stating that economic performance tends to stagnate where fleets depend on stocks that are still overfished or overexploited.
“This report on Europe’s fishing fleet shows that good results come with good practices. Over the course of my mandate, I have emphasized the fundamental importance of sustainable fishing. Europe’s fishers are seeing the benefits,” said Karmenu Vella, European commissioner for the environment, maritime affairs, and fisheries.
While the entire E.U. fleet was profitable, the results varied by scale of operation and by fishing region. As expected, the large-scale and the distant-water fleet segments registered higher economic performance than the small-scale coastal fleet segments. Furthermore, the fleet segments operating in the Northeast Atlantic, where most stocks being fished at sustainable levels, registered higher economic performance than the fleet segments operating in the Mediterranean, which has a continued, although improving, problem of overfishing or overexploitation of a number of stocks.
In 2017, the E.U. fleet’s gross value-added amounted to EUR 4.5 billion (USD 5 billion). The improved efficiency of the fleet has resulted in a decrease in repair and maintenance costs, as well as other variable costs. Despite a small increase in fuel costs, the average salaries in the sector increased in 2017, continuing a trend that started in 2012.
The E.U. fishing fleet comprised 83,323 vessels, of which 65,567 were active. Direct employment amounted to 151,981 fishers.
Capture fisheries landings totaled 5.3 million metric tons (MT), an increase of 7.5 percent. This total value of this seafood was estimated at EUR 7.6 billion (USD 8.5 billion), down 0.6 percent compared with 2016.
In volume terms, Atlantic herring at 781,535 MT was the most important species landed by the E.U. fleet in 2017, followed by Atlantic mackerel (460,000 MT), sandeels and European sprat. Atlantic mackerel with EUR 459.5 million (USD 514.2 million) was the top species landed in value, followed by European hake, yellowfin tuna, Norway lobster, and Atlantic herring.
Image courtesy of Rudmer Zwerver/Shutterstock
