Europeans have been paying about the same price for more for their farmed gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) for the last three years, although there are some significant price variations for this popular Mediterranean species between the key consumer markets.
The largest markets for seabream are Italy, Greece, and Spain. Greece, the largest EU producer of farmed seabream, is also the main supplier to France, Italy and Spain – the latter is the second largest EU producer.
According to new figures published by the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA), within the EU the highest retail prices for seabass in the first-quarter of this year were seen in Spain, where consumers paid an average of EUR 9.90 (USD 10.96) per kg, which was 7 percent and 3 percent more than the average achieved in the corresponding periods of 2015 and 2014, respectively.
In Greece, meanwhile, the retail price of bream in Q1 2016 averaged EUR 6.23 (USD 6.89) per kg, 1 percent higher than the corresponding period of 2015. The highest average retail price in the past 12 months was seen in June 2015, when it reached EUR 7.35 (USD 8.13) per kg.
Despite these small fluctuations, prices in Greece have remained stable at around EUR 6 (USD 6.64) per kg for the past three years. Similarly, the prices paid in Italy have remained at an average level of EUR 8.72 (USD 9.65) per kg since January 2013.
As Europe’s production (including Turkey) of juvenile bass and seabream has remained at less than 1.1 billion fish (combined) for the past two years, it’s expected that the harvests of market-size fish will remain at current levels in the short-term, which could result in price rises.
