Spain’s market prices for farmed gilthead bream and sea bass are up from last year at the Mercamadrid (Madrid) and Mercabarna (Barcelona) fish markets.
The cause? The economic crisis throughout Europe affecting Mediterranean companies has resulted in a significant falloff in supplies.
Figures compiled by misPeces reveal that, at Mercamadrid, daily trading in gilthead bream ? the most farmed and consumed fish species in Spain ? currently stands at EUR 5.45 (USD 7.88) per kilogram. A year ago it was EUR 4.30 (USD 6.22), a 27 percent increase.
Over the past year, the price of 600-gram to 1-kilogram gilthead has increased 34 percent from EUR 5.20 (USD 7.52) to EUR 7 (USD 10.12) per kilogram. The price of fish larger than 1 kilogram has increased 30 percent from EUR 7.50 (USD 10.85) to EUR 9.70 (USD 14.03).
Similarly, at Mercabarna, the price of gilthead has jumped 30 percent over the past year from EUR 4.80 (USD 6.95) to EUR 6.20 (USD 8.97).
Sea bass — the second most farmed and consumed fish species in Spain — is also experiencing significant, though lower, price increases. Mercamadrid has seen a 27 percent increase in the price of sea bass from EUR 4.40 (USD 6.36) to EUR 5.60 (USD 8.10) over the past year.
The price of 600-gram to 1-kilogram sea bass has increased 8 percent from EUR 6 (USD 8.68) to EUR 6.50 (USD 9.40) over the same period. However, the price of fish larger than 1 kilogram has suffered a 6 percent decline from EUR 10 (USD 14.45) per kilo to EUR 9.40 (USD 13.60).
Over the past year, the price of farmed sea bass at Mercabarna has increased 15 percent from EUR 5.40 (USD 7.80) to EUR 6.20 (USD 8.97).
Mercamadrid Fish Market is a key player in Spain’s seafood trade and a benchmark for prices and trends. The 33,000-square-meter facility trades more than 132 million kilograms of seafood annually, valued at around EUR 1 billion (USD 1.4 billion).
Mercabarna Central Fish Market covers some 30,000 square meters, with more than 50 wholesale companies and 80 points of sale in processing halls for gutting and filleting.
