The EU continues to be the world’s No. 1 consumer of fishery and aquaculture products with last year’s total household seafood spend reaching EUR 54.8 billion (USD 65.1 billion), the highest amount ever recorded. However, the latest edition of an annual study compiled by the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA) finds that the bloc’s per capita consumption decreased from 25.44 kg to 25.11 kg in 2015, meaning that the average EU citizen consumed 330g or 1.4 percent less fish than in 2014.
According to “The EU Fish Market – 2017 Edition,” the bloc’s total supply of fishery and aquaculture products decreased by almost 382,000 metric tons (MT) to less than 14.6 million MT in 2015. The main driver of this reduction was internal production originating from fishing activities, which decreased by almost 300,000 MT.
Despite import volumes declining by 2 percent in 2015, EU self-sufficiency (the ratio between EU production and apparent consumption of the market) fell from 47.4 percent to 46 percent, meaning that more seafood for European consumption was supplied by non-EU countries rather than through EU catches or aquaculture production.
Though the EU’s most consumed species, tuna and cod, gained relevance from 2012 to 2014, the growth stopped in 2015 as their consumption levels fell by 7 percent and 3 percent respectively. In contrast, third-ranked farmed salmon registered a 4 percent increase in 2015 compared with 2014.
In general, the consumption of products from aquaculture grew and reached their highest level since 2011 at 6.47 kg per capita. However, even while declining by 2.1 percent to 18.64 kg per capita, the consumption of wild-caught products represented 74 percent of total fish consumption in 2015 and still dominates the EU fish market.
The new report also finds that in 2016, the EU consolidated its position as the world’s leading trader of fishery and aquaculture products in terms of value, with the trade flow growing to EUR 54.3 billion (USD 64.5 billion), involving 14.1 million MT of products. Furthermore, 2016’s trade balance deficit (exports minus imports) was the largest ever, confirming the EU as a net importer of fisheries and aquaculture products.
The value of imported fish grew by 9 percent from 2015 to reach EUR 24.4 billion (USD 29 billion). This was mainly determined by salmon imports and was linked to a “significant” 27 percent price increase, said EUMOFA.
Of the main products imported, only tuna (mostly canned and loins) registered a price drop.
All of the EU’s top 10 suppliers achieved all-time highs in terms of the value of their seafood exports to the bloc, but the most significant growth was achieved by Norway (20 percent), Morocco (14 percent) and Ecuador (10 percent). EUMOFA also highlighted that there had been remarkable growth in the value of Chinese exports, driven by frozen squid sold to Spain (115 percent).
Meanwhile, the value of the EU’s 2016 exports continued the upward trend started six years before, totalling EUR 4.7 billion (USD 5.6 billion).
Almost half of the seafood product trade within and outside the EU consists of exchanges between EU member states, corresponding to 6.2 million MT in 2016. Last year’s value of EUR 25.2 billion (USD 29.9 billion) was EUR 2.2 billion (USD 2.6 billion) more than the previous year.
