The EU has consolidated its position as the world’s No. 1 consumer of fishery and aquaculture products, with last year’s total spend on the products reaching EUR 56.6 billion (USD 64.7 billion), up 2.9 percent compared with 2016 and the highest amount ever recorded. At the same time, the bloc’s per capita consumption has increased to 24.3 kg, which is 763g more than in 2015, confirms the latest edition of an annual study compiled by the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA).
EUMOFA’s “The EU Fish Market, 2018 Edition” finds that the bloc’s supply of fishery and aquaculture products grew by 450,000 metric tons (MT) compared with the previous year to 14.2 million MT in 2015. Imports were the main driver behind the increased supply, reaching a 10-year peak.
Consequently, and despite increased internal production, its self-sufficiency level of 41.7 percent was the lowest since 2011. Indeed, the top five species consumed in the EU – tuna, cod, salmon, Alaska pollock and shrimp – representing 43 percent of the market in 2016, were mostly imported from non-EU countries.
Of all the EU member states, Portugal registered the highest per capita consumption of fish and seafood products with 57 kg.
Wild-caught products accounted for 76 percent of the EU seafood market, although the consumption of aquaculture products increased slightly to 5.72 kg per capita. Salmon and mussels accounted for more than half of the farmed volume eaten.
The report confirms that the EU’s trade flow of fisheries and aquaculture products reached EUR 30.3 billion (USD 34.6 billion) last year, surpassing China – the second ranked trader – by EUR 2.3 billion (USD 2.6 billion). But while China is a net exporter of seafood, the EU is a net importer with non-EU products accounting for 70 percent of the domestic consumption.
The EU’s exports, valued at EUR 5 billion (USD 5.7 billion), mainly comprised salmon, tuna, mackerel and fishmeal.
Norway is the main source of EU seafood imports. In 2017, EU the Scandinavian country sent 1.4 million MT worth almost EUR 6.2 billion (USD 7.1 billion) into the bloc. Salmon represented 73 percent of the overall value of Norway’s imports last year, followed by cod with 14 percent of the total.
The Russian Federation is also a main supplier of (frozen) cod to the EU. In 2017, its cod exports to EU countries increased by 13 percent to 110,606 MT, with the value rising by 20 percent to EUR 444 million (USD 507.7 million).
Other key importers into EU markets included Ecuador, Vietnam, India and Argentina, mainly providing frozen warmwater shrimp products.
Ecuador, the Seychelles and Mauritius are also important suppliers of tuna products. In value terms, tuna imported in the EU mainly consists of processed products: canned tuna and frozen tuna loins for the canning industry.
