Islandsbanki: Global, U.S. seafood production surges

Total global seafood production increased in 2013, driven by aquaculture. Meanwhile, the United States was the world’s fourth-largest harvester of wild seafood in 2013, and remains one of the most important seafood markets. Those are among the findings of a new report from Iceland-based bank Islandsbanki, the “United States Seafood Report” released this week at Seafood Expo Global.

The total value of the U.S. catch has increased steadily since the early 2000s, reaching USD 5.5 billion (EUR 5.1 billion) in 2013. In 2013, landings jumped by 5.6 percent to reach 4.5 million metric tons (MT), according to the report.

Meanwhile, global production grew 3.2 percent to 162.8 million MT in 2013, compared to 2012, according to FAO, and the growth is not expected to let up in the future. Total global production is expected to continue to rise, reaching 186 million MT by 2023, according to the report.

“The anchoveta fishery is highly variable … and increased by 21 percent from 2012 to 2013. The rebound in this species, along with continued growth in aquaculture, drove the 3.2 percent increase in total production,” Timothy Spanos, executive director of international lending for Islandsbanki and lead author of the report, told SeafoodSource.

China has accounted for the majority of the global growth, rising at an average annual rate of 8.3 percent from 1980 to 2013. Around 75 percent of China’s production was sourced from aquaculture in 2013.

In fact, aquaculture is where the global growth is at, rising 6.1 percent annually since 1995. Farmed seafood is expected to account for 62 percent of total global production by 2030.

Conversely, wild seafood stabilized at around 90 million MT harvested in 2013, accounting for around 57 percent of total production versus 70 percent in the early 2000s.

Asia accounted for 89 percent of total aquaculture production in 2013, while the United States accounted for just 4.4 percent and Europe accounted for 4 percent of global farmed seafood production.

In the United States, the Pacific accounts for around 70 percent of the country’s total volume and half of its total value. Landings off the Pacific coast increased from around 2.3 million MT in 2009 to 3.2 million MT in 2013, due in part to the increase in the pollock total allowable catch.

While the total value of fish harvested from the U.S. Pacific coast has been increasing, the value of the Atlantic and Gulf catches has been rising because of higher shellfish prices.

“The higher values (on a per unit basis) in the Atlantic are driven by scallops and lobster, which account for more than half of the total value of fish harvested off the U.S. Atlantic coast,” Spanos said.

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