Marine aquaculture production in Andalusia, Spain, totaled 10,673 metric tons (MT) last year, which was almost twice the volume recorded in 2014, putting the industry on course to meeting the objectives of the “Andalusian Strategy for the Development of Marine Aquaculture for 2014-2020,” which targets a three-fold growth in output in this period.
According to Andalusian authorites, the increase is mainly due to yields doubling for the region’s most dominant species: seabream, seabass, tuna, mussels and shrimp.
In 2015, Andalusian aquaculture sold 10,671 MT of harvested products, generating EUR 61 million (USD 69 million), while the hatchery sector contributed a further EUR 5.6 million (USD 6.3 million).
Last year, fish production accounted for 75 percent of the total tonnage sold by Andalusia and generated 94 percent of the economic value, followed by mollusks 22 percent of the total production, crustaceans with 2.2 percent. Algae represented just 0.06 percent of the tonnage but almost 1.2 percent of the total value.
Within the fish category, seabass was the most important species, representing 61.5 percent of the total, followed by seabream with 19.9 percent and bluefin tuna with 13.8 percent. Andalusia is also producing increased volumes of mullet, croaker and sole.
With regards to shellfish farming, mussels accounted for 95.3 percent of production, while shrimp farming – totaling 236 MT – accounted for almost 98 percent of the crustacean category.
