The prices paid for fresh mackerel in both U.K. and Irish retail have fallen this year despite higher first-sale prices and decreased landings. With a significantly larger total allowable catch (TAC) for northeast Atlantic mackerel now agreed by member states for 2017, consumers in these markets can expect even cheaper fish in the future.
Among EU member states, the retail price of fresh mackerel is highest in the United Kingdom. This has been the case for the last three years. However, in the first six months of 2016, the average retail price in this market declined 10 percent year-on-year to EUR 11.22 (USD 12.26) per kg, according to new data published by the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA).
Over the same period, the average retail price in Irish retail was EUR 9.28 (USD 10.14) per kg, a 5 percent fall compared with January–June 2015.
In the wake of the Russian import ban, more mackerel has been sold into domestic markets by the pelagic industry, and traders confirm this increase in supply has led to an even more attractively priced product at the consumer end of the supply chain.
Furthermore, it is “highly likely” that the higher European mackerel catch arrangements agreed for 2017 will lead to further price reductions, one buyer told SeafoodSource.
The EU, Norway and the Faroe Islands reached an agreement earlier this month on how they will share the 2017 quota for northeast Atlantic mackerel. Following guidance from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the coastal states set the TAC for northeast Atlantic mackerel at 1,020,996 metric tons (MT), up 14 percent from the 2016 quota of 895,900 MT.
Of this quota, the EU receives 503,245 MT, Norway gets 229,821 MT and the Faroes has 128,655 MT.
The United Kingdom, which receives the largest share of the EU’s quota, gets 240,000 MT in 2017 – up from 208,000 MT this year. Meanwhile Irish fishermen receive an 86,429 MT allocation – an increase of more than 10,500 MT.
U.K. pelagic vessels landed 55,951 MT of mackerel worth EUR 50.7 million (USD 55.2 million) in the first seven months of 2016, representing year-on-year increases of 19 percent and 22 percent respectively. The average unit price during this period was EUR 0.91 (USD 0.99) per kg, a 3 percent rise.
In contrast to the falling U.K. and Irish retail prices, EUMOFA reported that higher premiums had been paid for fresh mackerel in other key EU markets in the first-half of 2016, with consumers in Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain paying 3 percent, 4 percent, 8 percent and 2 percent more per kg year-on-year, respectively.
