Ireland’s seafood industry has the potential to achieve EUR 1 billion (USD 1.3 billion) in sales by 2020 and create over 3,000 jobs through expansion into new markets.
The sector is currently worth EUR 822 million (USD 1 billion) to the economy, employs 11,000, and has seen exports up 18 percent on 2011 to EUR 493 million (USD 634 million) in 2012. While traditional markets like the U.K., Germany, Spain, and France have seen a decline in demand in recent years, markets in China and India are becoming the focus of the industry.
??“If every Chinese person was to eat 100 grams of Irish seafood just once a year, that would equal 150,000 metric tons a year,” said Christophe Pelletier of the Happy Future Consulting Group.