The EU produced 50,637 metric tons (MT) of organic seafood in 2015, representing almost 4 percent of the bloc’s total aquaculture production, finds a study compiled by the European Commission’s European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA).
EUMOFA’s “EU Organic Aquaculture” report finds that the main species produced under organic standards are salmon (16,000 MT), mussels (20,000 MT), carp (6,000 MT), trout (6,000 MT), and seabass and seabream (3,400 MT), while by far the main producer of organic farmed seafood was Ireland, accounting for 44 percent of the EU’s total organic production, followed by Italy (17 percent), the United Kingdom (7 percent) and France (6 percent).
There was strong growth in the organic production of the main species between 2012 and 2015, with the salmon supply up by 24 percent, rainbow trout doubling, and seabass and seabream trebling, but the report states that the economic performance of EU organic aquaculture is far from being satisfactory everywhere or for all species:
• Organic salmon provides good sales price premiums (30-35 percent), which on average cover the extra costs (23-32 percent) generated by organic farming, in a context of increasing international demand
• Organic farming of seabass and seabream also allows producers to reach price premiums (30-35 percent). But these are lower than the additional costs occurred (30-45 percent), in a context of limited market expansion
• Organic trout farming leads to significant price premiums and extra margins (30 percent), compared to conventional aquaculture; demand is strong, in particular from the smoking industry
• Organic mussel farming, which developed more recently, is benefitting from a strong demand and can provide 20 percent price premiums
• Organic carp, however, cannot cover its extra costs (15-43 percent) with equivalent sales price premiums (up to 30 percent) and would suffer heavy losses without EU subsidies
EUMOFA highlighted that one of the major economic issues for the development of organic fish farming is the low scale of production and that economies of scale are often hard to achieve because of the difficulty of access to new farming sites and the limited expansion capacities of the market.
At the same time, extending the range of species organically farmed is “technically possible” but has to face the lack of knowledge and timidity of the market, it said.
“Certification is a development driver and strongly established organic labels are likely to speed up the development of the market. But sustainable is a big competitor to organic. Large-scale retailers sometimes adopt a fish purchasing policy [that is] more sustainable-driven than organic-oriented and consumers are skeptical and confused in front of a variety of eco-labels and organic logos.”
The report’s recommendations include fostering a significant increase in the production of organically-farmed fish and thereby achieve economies of scale and reduce production and distribution costs, as well as to focus on a few major species that are likely to meet large-scale retailers’ demands in terms of regularity of supply and price stability. It also suggests strengthening the credibility and readability of organic labels and basing communications on a positive and dynamic move toward compliance to high-level principles of sustainability and animal welfare.
EUMOFA also calls on the European Commission to adopt a clear position with regard to organic and sustainable.
Total aquaculture production by the EU28 in 2015 amounted to 1.3 million MT, including 493,000 MT of mussels, 189,000 MT of trout, 186,000 MT of salmon, 162,000 MT of seabass and seabream, 93,000 MT of oysters and 81,000 MT of carp.
In value terms, the EU’s top species farmed were salmon at EUR 923 million (USD 1.1 billion); trout, EUR 585 million (USD 697 million); oysters, EUR 445 million (USD 530.2 million); seabream, EUR 434 million (USD 517.1 million); mussels, EUR 401 million (USD 477.8 million); and seabass, EUR 371 million (USD 442 million).
